Puerto Rico car sales dip 17.2% in November
GUIA President José Ordeix
Despite a seemingly unstoppable downward spiral of auto sales in Puerto Rico, which dropped by 17.2 percent last month when compared to November 2013, the United Automobile Importers Group remains optimistic that there will be an improvement when the year wraps up in about two weeks.
November was the 10th consecutive month in which the sector experienced negative results, with totals reaching 7,376 units sold, down from the 8,906 vehicles that rolled off the lot in November 2013.
Still, the trade group that represents the majority of Puerto Rico’s automakers and 96 percent of Puerto Rico’s total new car sales, has revised its outlook for total year-end sales of 88,000 units, up from the 85,000 originally predicted.
“The industry has taken advantage of the holiday season and the reduction in taxes to make extremely attractive offers to customers, for which we’re confident that the positive effects of a reduction in excise tax rates will materialize soon,” said José Ordeix, president of GUIA, as the trade group is known.
Accumulated demand in Puerto Rico, for the January to November 2014 period reached 78,636 units, representing a cumulative decline of -12.4 percent over the same period last year when 89,760 units sold. Fleet sales posted a surplus of 2.5 percent, compared to November 2013, by selling 1,418 in November 2014 versus 1,384 units in November last year.
