Truck sales shone
in first quarter

Vans and sport-utility
vehicles were the stars for
Hawaii auto dealers in a
lackluster quarter

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii sales of some models of U.S.-made new cars and trucks picked up sharply in the first quarter of this year, but overall car sales were down a little compared to the first quarter of last year.

New figures prepared for the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association show retail sales of new cars were down 1.1 percent, according to state vehicle registration figures.

Sales of imported models were up 5.8 percent while sales of domestic models were down 7.6 percent.

But dealers say there were some real bright spots among U.S. brands.

Don McNeely, Hawaii operations manager for Chrysler Corp., said the Dakota pickup truck is selling particularly well, as is the Durango sport-utility vehicle, which around last year, he said.

McNeely and Chevrolet dealers' representative Ken Silverman said the truck category is showing the fastest growth. Silverman, Chevrolet district sales and service manager, said that is partly because it includes minivans.

Sales of the Blazer sport-utility vehicle were up 52 percent, he said.

"The bulk of the market (increase) is in trucks" and vans, he said. Dealers of U.S. vehicles sold nearly one truck for every two passengers cars they sold in the first quarter, compared to one out of three in the 1997 quarter.

Total Hawaii retail sales of U.S. cars and trucks were 4,663 units registered in the first quarter compared to 5,048 in the 1997 period.

There were 5,059 imported cars and trucks registered in the latest quarter, compared to 4,780 in the year-earlier quarter.

Eric Miyasaki, chief executive of Nissan Motor Corp. in Hawaii, called the overall market "sluggish" and said one factor that may be inhibiting sales is the lenders' insistance on high credit credentials before authorizing a car loan.