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Car sales shrink in May
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Posted on Jun 03 2008
Saipan’s automotive dealerships reported Tuesday a slight drop in sales for the month of May, though members of the Commonwealth Automobile Association remain upbeat about the prospect sales will improve in the near future.
In a just-released sales report CADA said dealerships sold 48 new cars last month, a minor decline compared to the 54 sold in May 2007.
“With everything that is going on in the market right now, we expect to see some shrinkage but it is not the dramatic declines we experienced last year,” said CADA president and general manager of Joeten Motors, Matthew Deets, noting that sales in the new car market have dropped by a mere 3.6 percent compared to last year. “I still have a positive outlook that sales will improve slightly over the next few months…”
Deets also pointed to a decline in inventory as a key factor in the sales drop.
Only Joeten Motors saw an increase in May sales over last year with 20 purchases of new cars and a 54 percent increase in overall purchases. Microl saw a slight drop of 5 percent in sales with 19 units purchased and Triple J Motors saw a 57 percent drop in sales with 9 units bought.
Among the models sold, the Toyota Yaris was the most popular sedan last month with seven units sold while the Ford Ranger dominated the sales of trucks with four units. As for the SUV market, the Honda CR-V proved the most popular with two units sold. Dealers also sold three vans.
