Where are the buyers? Hot weather and a softening of pent-up demand seem to be flattening out car sales in Southwest Idaho. The numbers of new and used cars sold have remained almost unchanged since May.

It’s still better than last year: New-car sales in July were up 32 percent over July 2011. Used cars were up 23 percent. Dealers sold 1,338 new vehicles and 3,541 used ones, according to vehicle registrations compiled by the Idaho Automobile Dealers Association and the Idaho Statesman’s market research department.

Why such a jump? One word: tsunami. The tsunami that struck Japan in spring 2011 upset inventories of Japanese cars and dealers here couldn’t get the models they needed. This year, inventories are better, but some popular models are still hard to come by. Even so, sales jumped considerably.

Bill Roberts: 377-6408