Car dealers expect record year for new vehicles

Advertiser Staff

More than 16,000 new light vehicles were registered statewide in the first quarter of the year, a 15.8 percent increase over the same period last year.

A report from the Hawaii Automobile Dealers' Association predicted this year's registrations will beat last year's record.

Toyota was the most popular make in the first quarter, with 22.8 percent of market share. That reflected a 0.2-percentage-point loss in market share from a year ago.

Nissan moved into second place, with an 11.6 percent share. Ford dropped to third, followed by Honda, Dodge, Chevrolet, Mazda, Lexus, Volkswagen and BMW.

The top selling light vehicle in Hawai'i in the first quarter of the year was the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, according to the report.

The Toyota Corolla/Matrix was the second most popular light vehicle. Next came the Toyota Camry, Ford F-Series and Nissan Frontier.

O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui and the Big Island each saw double-digit increases in new vehicle registrations.

New vehicle registrations fell during much of the 1990s, but recovered to reach a record 62,712 new vehicle registrations last year. The dealers association forecasts that 68,890 new vehicles will be registered this year, up nearly 10 percent from 2003.

Sales have remained relatively strong because of incentives, and new models are expected to continue to attract interest, according to the dealers association.

Hawai'i is ranked No. 20 among the top markets in the country for new retail vehicle registrations.

New York state is the No. 1 market.