Posted on: Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Some no-interest auto deals skip Hawai'i
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and some other Asian automakers are following their U.S.- based rivals in offering no-interest loans to spur U.S. sales of new cars and trucks after last month's terrorist attacks.
Toyota, the third-largest automaker worldwide and fourth in U.S. sales, this month began offering no-interest loans on 2001 and 2002 Corolla compact cars, 4Runner sport-utility vehicles and Tundra pickup trucks, spokeswoman Julie Alfonso said.
Nissan last week introduced similar terms on 2002 Sentra compacts and Frontier pickups.
But Hawai'i dealers, many of whom have already had to field calls from disappointed buyers, said the no-interest deals are not available because of the unique relationship between Asian auto companies and their dealers here.
No-interest loans are "being offered as part of a national ad campaign from Toyota USA," said Che-Wai Lau, a sales consultant with Kamuiki Toyota in Honolulu. "In Hawai'i, we are part of Servco Pacific, a private franchise, so we don't participate in those same national deals that Toyota USA offers."
Hawai'i Nissan dealers are also not offering no-percent financing. Instead, they are advertising 0.9 percent financing for 36 months or 3.9 percent for up to 60 months on selected new cars.
"Nissan has its own distributorships and their programs are a little bit different," said John Uekawa, president of New City Nissan.
Uekawa said New City Nissan sales are down only about 1 percent from a year ago and that may be why the the company has decided not to offer no-interest deals.
"Sometimes it can be a little bit confusing. But they wanted to help sales on the Mainland and it has really worked," Uekawa said.
American automakers started offering the no-interest deals to Hawai'i drivers soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.
General Motors Corp. started the no-interest loans last month on 2001 and 2002 models to boost sales after dealers reported few customers following the Sept. 11 attacks. Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit followed. The moves may help raise U.S. auto sales as much as 13 percent in October from last month's rate, automakers, dealers and analysts said last week.
"Right now we're at about 104 percent of our (sales) objective for the month, so things are good," Nissan spokeswoman Dierdre Dickerson said, without elaborating.
U.S. auto sales in September fell 8.7 percent, less than the 17 percent drop analysts had forecast.
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which had promoted interest-free loans before the September attacks, now lets U.S. customers buy its vehicles without down payment, or interest or loan payments for a year.
Honda Motor Co., which ranks fifth in U.S. sales, hasn't offered no-interest loans. The company reduced rates for three-year loans to 3.9 percent on 2001 Accord and Civic cars and to 1.9 percent on 2001 CR-V sport-utilities as 2002 models arrive.
"The pace at our dealerships this month is running a bit ahead of last year," Honda spokesman Art Garner said, without providing a specific figure. "All the incentives out there are pulling people in, and if they're out there shopping, they're shopping us, too."
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., the fifth-biggest import auto brand in the United States, offers 0.9 percent loans on 2001 Sonata cars and XG300 sedans to clear out inventories for next year's models.
