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Auto dealers report spike in sales last month
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Posted on Aug 03 2004
Consumer spending on automobiles continues to rise in the past months, as auto dealers in the CNMI reported an 83.33-percent growth in sales last July.
Auto dealers sold 165 vehicles last month, nearly double the 90 total vehicles sold in the CNMI in July 2003.
The Commonwealth Auto Dealer’s Association reported about the industry’s positive performance that has been sustained for several months now.
Earlier, CADA president Joe Guerrero said sales have been posting higher figures than projected, attributing the positive turnout partly to aggressive marketing by auto dealers.
Microl Corp.—the local distributor of Toyota—continued to dominate the industry in terms of auto sales. The company sold 78 vehicles last month, 100 percent higher than July 2003’s 39.
Toyota remains the top-selling automobile on the islands, with 77 vehicles sold in July. Based on the CADA sales report, Toyota’s sports utility vehicles appeared to be popular, with 20 units sold last month, next to cars, which totaled 46. Microl also sold 11 Toyota pickup trucks and one Chevrolet van.
Next to sales leader Microl was Joeten Motors, which sold 55 vehicles last July. The sales figure represented a 139.13 percent growth from July 2003’s 23 vehicles sold.
Joeten’s top-selling auto brand is Nissan, with monthly sales reaching 22. The auto dealer also sold 17 Honda, 10 Ford vehicles, and six Kia vehicles.
Tailing Joeten was Triple J Motors, which sold 32 units last month. Triple J’s top-selling auto was Mazda, which had 17 units sold, maintaining sales level for the brand in July 2003.
Next in sales was Korean auto brand Hyundai, with Triple J selling eight units, slightly higher than July 2003’s five.
Also last month, Triple J sold four Mitsubishi and three Suzuki vehicles.
In all, local auto dealers have sold 878 vehicles this year, exceeding the total 644 sales for the first seven months of 2003 by 36.34 percent. Of the year-to-date total in 2004, cars remained as the most popular with 495 units sold in the Commonwealth; SUVs, 176; truck, 138; and van, 69.
