Auto dealer industry posts Improved sales

Auto sales for the first quarter of 2001 surged by 34 percent, according to figures released yesterday by the Commonwealth Automotive Dealers Association.

The CNMI auto market enjoyed brisk sales during the first three months of the year as people drove home with a total of 299 new automobiles, compared to just 222 units sold during the same period a year ago.

However, CADA President Carlos Camacho was quick to point out that the increase in sales figures does not necessarily translate to better economic situation and improved consumer confidence.

Mr. Camacho noted that the rise in sales for the January to March period was a correction from last year’s unusually low automobile sales, a time when the local automotive industry experienced its lowest point.

“The first quarter of last year was simply the worse quarter we had since 1997. Figures really went down last year and the industry literally reached rock bottom,” Mr. Camacho said.

Fortunately, the sales gloom of the first quarter of 2000 did not carry over to the first quarter of this year. The just concluded quarter saw the automotive industry peddle away 150 cars, 64 trucks, the same number of sports utility vehicles and 21 vans.

In terms of automobile marquees, Toyota Motors once again lorded it over competing automobile makers, as the Japanese company cornered close to 49 percent of the market with a total of 145 units sold in the first quarter.

No automaker came close as only Nissan Motors came away with a double digit share of the pie with close to a 15 percent market share. Nissan sold a total of only 44 units in the first quarter compared to 58 in the same period last year, which easily translates to an over 24 percent loss in market share.

Rounding out the top three in terms of market share was Kia Motors with a surprising 8.7 percent slice of sales. The South Korean automaker sold a total of 26 units in first three months of the year, an over 52 percent improvement in sales from the 17 it sold in the first quarter of 2000.

In the arena of automobile dealerships, Microl Corporation again was the leader of pack with a lion’s share 50.7 percent of all sales for the first quarter of 2001. The dealership’s performance was buoyed largely by sales of its Toyota brands.

Microl sold a total of 150 units during the first three months of the year — 145 Toyota and five General Motors units. The sales output is a 64.77 percent increase from sales in the first quarter of 2000.

Joeten Motors came in second with over one third market share of automotive sales during the period. The Beach Road dealership sold 99 units in the first quarter of the year, the same total it registered in the same period last year.

Triple “J” Motors captured 16.72 percent market share in the same period as it sold 50 units, compared to only 31 units in the 1st quarter of 2000. Midway Motors had zero auto sales during the first three months of the year after selling just two in the 1st quarter of 2000.

However, Midway Motors did sell a total of nine used cars during the period, good for fourth and last among the four automotive dealers in the island. Microl once again ruled the used cars category with a total of 63 units sold. While Joeten and Triple “J” Motors sold 51 and 46 used cars, respectively, in the 1st quarter of 2001.