Hawaii car
sales fall 3.6%

Strikes, stock market contribute
to slow buying pattern

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By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

SALES OF NEW CARS in Hawaii skidded 3.6 percent during the first quarter as consumer confidence sagged. But activity will likely pick up over the next six months.

With the state teachers strike, the University of Hawaii faculty strike and the stock market meltdown, car dealers said they saw less foot traffic in their showrooms during the first three months this year.

According to figures by the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, the number of new cars sold in Hawaii totaled 12,847, down from 13,332 in the first quarter of 2000.

However, the first quarter figures are an improvement from fourth-quarter 2000's 12,123.

"There was good news and bad news in the quarter," said Eric Miyasaki, chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Corp. in Hawaii.

Miyasaki, whose company compiles the data for the association's car sales report, is forecasting a 4 percent decline due in part to the first-quarter sales. He noted that this year's results will compare with a busy 2000, when retail car sales hit a 10-year high.

He believes local consumers' outlook on the economy is on the rebound with the recent settlement of the teachers strike and the UH faculty strike, which affected more than 16,000 households statewide.

During the recently completed quarter, sales of domestic cars and trucks offset declines in the import market.

Sales of U.S. cars and trucks totaled 5,005 in the first quarter of 2001, a 5.5 percent increase from the year-earlier's 4,743.

Import car and truck sales slid 8.7 percent to 7,842 during the first three months this year from the previous first quarter's 8,589.

Miyasaki noted the domestic models benefited from incentive plans put in place by U.S. automakers.