Puerto Rico car sales stall in November
José Ordeix, president of GUIA and vice president of Motorambar Inc.
The number of vehicles that rolled off the lots in Puerto Rico reached 8,773 units in November, which represented a flat 0.2 percent year-over-year improvement and kept the breaks on nearly 10 months of consecutive growth, the United Automobile Importers Group known as GUIA revealed.
Puerto Rico car sales had been on a steady growth curve from January to September, with a cumulative 12.2 percent growth. However, the results changed with the October and November numbers, which drove the cumulative growth down to 10.9 percent.
In November, combined car sales for Puerto Rico and the USVI totaled 8,994 units, representing a 4 percent drop when compared to the same month the prior year, GUIA’s statistics showed.
However, during the January-November 2012 period, Puerto Rico and USVI reported total car sales volume of 90,118 units, representing a 9.6 percent increase compared with the 82,228 units sold in the same period in 2011.
“Typically, the auto industry shows its highest growth rates in the last quarter of the year, which is clearly not the trend we’re seeing this quarter,” said José Ordeix, president of GUIA.
In terms of segments, car sales continued performing according to the trend reflected during the year so far: 65 percent of local demand is concentrated in the sub-compact, compact SUVs and compact sedans categories.
Those segments are in the lower price range and represent more efficient fuel consumption.
We have to take in consideration that the recent “surge” in car sales has been spearheaded by anyone financing at ultra high level of interests approved massively by a single lender in the industry. Tale a look at the data.