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The Maui News - Maui County consumers bought fewer new cars and light trucks in the first half of this year than they did in the same period last year -- but not by much, according to the Hawaii Auto Outlook sponsored by the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association.
From Jan. 1 through June 30, Maui buyers took home 3,607 vehicles, down by 39, or 1.1 percent, from the 3,646 vehicles sold in the first half of last year, the outlook says. Maui County was the only major market in the state to see a decline.
However, Hawaii County saw only a slight 0.3 percent bump with new-vehicle sales increasing by only 10 from 3,433 to 3,443.
Oahu reported a 6 percent increase, up 1,208 vehicles from 20,140 to 21,348. Kauai saw a 22.9 percent increase, up 264 vehicles from 1,154 to 1,418.
The market share in Maui County for various vehicle makes broke down to 25.7 percent Toyota, 19.9 percent Honda, 10.2 percent Nissan, 7.4 percent Ford, 5.7 percent Chevrolet, 4.4 percent Kia, 3.4 percent Subaru, 2.1 percent Jeep, 1.8 percent Hyundai and 1 percent Mazda.
Toyota and Honda were the first and second most popular brands statewide. As a percentage of car sales, Honda was most popular in Maui County compared with the state's other three major markets.
Overall, new-vehicle sales rose 5.1 percent statewide from 28,373 in the first half of 2016 to 29,816 in the same period this year. Nationwide, there's been a 0.6 percent drop in vehicle sales.
The low point for vehicle sales in recent memory was in 2010. In the first half of that year, Hawaii consumers bought more than 14,000 fewer vehicles than this year.
The outlook predicted that "after fully recovering from the low point in sales that occurred in 2010, the state new vehicle market is likely to soften during the next few years. But the healthy job market, strong consumer affordability and significant advances in new vehicle technology and safety features should keep sales strong."