Saipan Tribune

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

5.6 percent increase in October vehicle sales

Automotive dealers posted a modest 5.6 percent increase in new vehicle sales in October, the only third time this year that monthly sales went up.

The Commonwealth Auto Dealers Association yesterday reported selling 38 new cars, vans, trucks and sport utility vehicles in October, compared to 36 during the same month last year.

This brings to 373 the total new vehicles sold during the first 10 months of the year, a 30 percent drop from the same period in 2008.

CADA also sold 26 used vehicles last month, bringing to 332 the year-to-date secondhand vehicle sales.

“We are happy to see that this month sales numbers are up and our hope is that this trend will continue,” CADA president Matthew Deets said in a statement.

Deets, who is also the general manager of Joeten Motors, said he is particularly happy with Joeten Motors' sales. The company is the only one of three dealers that saw a sales increase in October. Joeten Motors, the local dealer of Nissan, Ford, Honda and Kia units, sold 21 new vehicles in October, representing 61 percent of the market. Last year, it sold only 13 during the same month.

“We have had two strong months with over 50 percent market share. I think Joeten Motors has benefited by having a good mix of inventory and the ability to offer attractive discounts on our remaining 2009 stock,” Deets added.

Microl Corp., the local dealer of Toyotas and Chevrolets, sold 11 new vehicles, a 31 percent drop from October last year.

Triple “J” Motors, meanwhile, sold only six new vehicles, compared to seven last year. Triple “J” is the local distributor of new Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Suzuki, and Mazda units.

Nissan Sentra was the top selling car with four units sold in October, followed by Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla with three units sold each.

In the trucks category, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma sold five units each.

Mazda CX9 and Nissan Xterra sold two units each in the SUVs market.

Only one van was sold in October: a Nissan Quest.