Car sales show brisk growth

Almost 30 percent more brand new vehicles were sold during the first half of 2004, as compared with the same period last year.

A total of 713 new cars, vans, trucks and sports utility vehicles have been sold so far this year, according to latest statistics from the three-member Commonwealth Auto Dealers Association.

This marks a 28.70-percent increase from the 554 vehicles sold from January to June 2003.

Last month alone, Joeten Motors, Microl Corp., and Triple J Motors sold 104 cars, posting a 52.94-percent growth from the 68 units sold in the same month last year.

CADA president Joe Guerrero, who is currently off-island, earlier attributed the sales growth primarily to the aggressive promotions by dealers and the increased number of people trading their old cars for new ones.

Guerrero also noted that sales for the past few months far exceeded the 10- to 15-percent increase CADA had projected for the entire calendar year.

According to CADA figures, Microl Corp. sold the most number of vehicles during the first six months of the year, with total sales of 375 units. This is a 56.25-percent climb from the 240 vehicles the company sold in the same period last year.

Last month, Microl, which deals only vehicles manufactured by Toyota, had total sales of 58 units. It more than doubled its sales in June 2003, when it sold only 27 Toyota and General Motors vehicles.

Despite posting a slight 0.57-percent decline, Joeten Motors came in second with 174 Nissan, Ford, Honda, and Kia vehicles sold in the first six months of the year. The company sold one more unit from January to June 2003.

Last month, Joeten sold 23 vehicles—up by 15 percent from the 20 units it sold in June 2003.

According to Joeten sales manager George Cruz, the inclement weather and the various activities that took place last month put their promotional efforts on the back burner.

“There were just too many things going on last month. But we’re looking forward to better sales this month, with government bids out from all over the place. Business has been good so far this month, and we’re only in the second week,” Cruz said.

Triple J Motors, for its part, sold 164 brand-new Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, and Mazda vehicles during the first half—posting a 17.99-percent increase from 139 units sold from January to June 2003.

For the month of June, Triple J had total sales of 23 vehicles—two units more than what it sold in the same month last year.

Cars remain the most popular among auto buyers, with 402 units sold in the first half of the year, followed by SUVs with 132 units, trucks with 114 units, and vans with 65 units.

Among manufacturers, Toyota proved to the top brand of choice, selling 240 units for the first six months of the year.

Ranking second is Nissan with 84, followed by Mazda with 62, Mitsubishi with 58, Ford with 39, Hyundai with 35, Kia with 31, Honda with 20, and Isuzu with 9.

For the six-month period, CADA sold a total of 198 secondhand or used vehicles. Microl Corp. again topped the sales chart with 73 units sold, followed by Joeten Motors with 71 and Triple J Motors with 54.