THE sale of brand new cars, vans, sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks in the CNMI dropped by 25.08 percent during the first three months of 2002 compared to the same period last year.
However, Carlos Camacho, president of the Commonwealth Auto Dealers’ Association, remains optimistic that the sales portfolio will improve in the next few months.
“CADA still remains optimistic because the local economy seems to show signs of improvement each month since the tragic events of Sept. 11,” Camacho told Variety.
There were 224 brand new vehicles sold between January and March, compared to the 299 units sold during the same months in 2001.
Camacho, however, said the March sales figure is an improvement from the same month last year—or from 76 to 78.
“This month is slightly better than last year, by 2.63 percent,” added Camacho, who is also the general manager of Joeten Motors Corp.
Microl Corp. posted the highest year-to-date sales figure of 88 units among the three CADA members.
This, however, is a 41.33 percent decline from its sales last year. Microl is the local distributor of brand new Toyota and GM vehicles.
Triple J Motors sold 77 units of Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Isuzu and Suzuki between January and March. Only Triple J posted a year-to-date growth of 54 percent compared to 2001.
Joeten Motors sold 59 brand new units of Nissan, Ford, Honda and Kia during the first three months of 2002—a 40.4 percent decline during the same period last year.
Second-hand vehicles
CADA sold 119 used or second-hand vehicles from January to March.
In March, there were 41 used automotive units sold.
Microl also leads the used car sales portfolio with 55 units sold, followed by Joeten Motors with 33, and Triple J with 27 units between January and March.
CADA’s annual sales of brand new and second hand vehicles considerably declined due to the Asian economic crisis, and this was further aggravated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
In 1997, CADA sold 3,091 brand new and used units. This went down to 2,447 in 1998. By 1999, the figure at 1,832 and further dipped to 1,681 in 2000.
In 2001, there were only 1,549 total new and used vehicles sold by CADA—the lowest annual level since 1997.
