New car sales in Puerto Rico see 8% Y-O-Y boost in May
Puerto Rico’s new car sales increased by 8% in May, with 11,158 new units sold compared to the 10,326 vehicles that rolled off the lot in the same month last year, according to the United Automobile Importers Group (GUIA, in Spanish) confirmed.
The accrued number of new vehicles sold over the first five months of 2023 totals 51,574 units, reflecting a cumulative drop of 4.26% versus the 53,869 units sold during the same period of the previous year, the independent group said.
The nonprofit organization stated that “inventory levels have improved substantially across most brands, making it possible to meet demand without the availability constraints seen during and after the pandemic.”
However, inflation and rising interest rates are having an impact on retail demand, reflecting a contraction of 8.15% during the January-May period, while there has been a 107.91% increase in fleet sales, which has helped to offset the overall market decline, the organization stated.
“The accumulated result to date reflects the expected behavior in the projections made by GUIA at the beginning of the year, which considered a drop compared to last year but still maintaining a strong volume of sales that could be affected by macroeconomic effects such as the rise in interest rates and inflation,” said José R. Ordeix, president of GUIA.
When broken down by brand, the GUIA report shows that Japanese automaker Toyota has been leading sales so far this year, followed by Korean automaker Hyundai and U.S. vehicle manufacturer Ford.
