Dealers selling more used vehicles than new ones

Automotive dealers have been selling more used or secondhand vehicles than new ones as consumers tighten their belts due to the recession.

Between January and April, for example, the Commonwealth Auto Dealers Association sold only 128 new cars, trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles, compared to 150 used vehicles sold.

In April alone, CADA sold only 33 new vehicles but sold 42 used units.

Latest CADA data shows that the sale of new vehicles dropped by 40 percent in April, from 55 last year to 33 this year.

This brings to 128 the total number of new vehicles sold by CADA members Joeten Motors, Microl Corp. and Triple J Motors during the first four months of the year, a 48-percent drop from the same period last year. Vehicle sales have been on a steady decline since the late ’90s.

In April, Microl sold 14 new Toyota units, a 48-percent decrease from 27 sold during the same month last year. Year-to-date sales plunged by 50 percent, from 114 to only 57.

Joeten Motors posted a 45-percent drop in new vehicle sales in April, from 20 last year to 11 this year. Joeten Motors, the authorized local distributor of Nissan, Ford, Honda and Kia, saw a 53-percent decrease in year-to-date sales.

Triple J Motors sold eight new vehicles in April, the same number it sold during the same month last year. The dealer of new Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Suzuki and Mazda units, Triple Jo Motors’ year-to-date sales dropped by 35 percent, from 54 to 35.

Buyers of new vehicles still go for cars, which sold 21 units in April and 76 during the first four months of the year.

SUVs ranked second with seven new units sold in April, and 30 between January and April.

This was followed by trucks with four units sold in April, and 16 in the first four months.

Only one van was sold in April, and six since the start of the year.

Of all the makes and models in April, Mazda3 and Toyota Yaris topped the sales chart with six units each, followed by Toyota Corolla with three sold units.

Two units each of Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier and Honda CRV were sold in April.

CADA also reported selling one unit each of Honda Civic, Hyundai Accent, Toyota Sienna, Nissan Rogue, Nissan XTerra, Suzuki G. Vitara, Toyota Highlander and Toyota RAV4 in April.