August’s vehicle sales dip 49 pct.

New vehicle sales dropped 49 percent in August, a month after posting a 52-percent plunge.

The Commonwealth Auto Dealers Association, in its latest sales report released yesterday, said that only 28 new cars, vans, trucks and sport utility vehicles were sold in August, compared to 55 during the same month last year.

Between January and August, new vehicle sales also decreased by 31 percent, from 413 during the first eight months of 2010 to only 284 so far this year.

Triple “J” Motors sold the most new units with 12 or 43 percent of the market, followed by Joeten Motors with nine units or 32 percent of the market, then Microl Corp. with seven units or 25 percent of the market.

Randy Steele, general manager of Triple “J” Motors, said they’re “very satisfied” with the sales month that they had in August. Triple “J” Motors is the authorized dealer of Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Suzuki, and Mazda.

“Our new promotion for August featuring the arrival of 2012 Hyundais with their new 10-year/10,000-mile Limited Powertrain Warranty was a consistent driver of traffic to our dealership. We also started the month with a deep inventory of quality, reconditioned used cars and the public noticed by purchasing 14 of those cars in August,” Steele said in a statement.

Douglas Brennan, general manager of Microl Corp., said Microl—the authorized dealer of new Toyotas and Chevrolets—is pleased that the supply lines are finally reopening after the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

“We now have an inventory,” he added.

Joeten Motors, meanwhile, is the authorized distributor of Nissan, Ford, Honda, and Kia.

The local automotive industry has been seeing mostly monthly decreases in sales for years now as a result of a weak economy.

Of the 28 new vehicles sold in August, 12 were cars, eight were SUVs, five were trucks, and three were vans.

Hyundai Elantra and Mazda3 were the most saleable cars in August with three units sold each, followed by Toyota Corolla with two. CADA also sold one unit each of Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent, Mazda2 and Toyota Yaris.

Toyota RAV4 sold the most SUVs with three, followed by Kia Sportage and Mazda CX7 with two units each, and Ford Explorer with one sold unit in August.

Of the five trucks sold last month, three were Nissan Frontier and two were Ford Ranger.

There were only three vans sold in August: two Mazda5 and one Toyota Sienna.

CADA also sold 24 used vehicles in August, bringing to 177 the total sold so far this year.

Triple “J” Motors sold 14 of the 24 used vehicles sold last month, followed by Microl Corp. with six, and Joeten Motors with four.