Automobile sales that showed promise for continued recovery after posting consecutive months of gains slowed last month from August a year ago, evidence of the ongoing impact the viral outbreak has on the industry.

Dealers in Trumbull and Mahoning counties were down 3.65 percent last month with 5,409 deliveries of new and used vehicles, according to numbers from the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association.

For the year so far, dealers remain far back of the sales pace they posted over the same period in 2019. Through August, the 36,358 deliveries is 4,159 — or 10.2 percent — less than the same time last year.

New car sales last month fell 9.5 percent, from 3,156 to 2,856, and are down 17.1 percent for the year. Through August 2019, 22,547 sales were made compared to 18,686 for the first eight months of 2020.

Used car sales pushed slightly ahead for the month with 2,446 deliveries, up 2.7 percent from 2,380 in August 2019. Still the segment overall remains 2.4 percent off for the year, which has notched 16,726 sales compared to 17,136 last year.

Dealerships in Mahoning County with the most sales in August to buyers in the Mahoning Valley were Greenwood Chevrolet, also the top-selling dealership in the three counties, 299; Sweeney Chevrolet, 272; and Taylor Kia of Boardman, 269.

The top new vehicle sellers were Greenwood, 188; Sweeney, 185; and Fred Martin Ford, 165. The top used vehicle sellers were Taylor Kia of Boardman, 134; Greenwood, 111; and Sweeney, 100.