Auto sales up 7.2% in March, industry group reports
New vehicle sales showed improvement in March, according to GUIA’s statistics.
The United Group of Automobile Importers, known as GUIA, revealed Tuesday that some 7,162 new vehicles were sold in Puerto Rico in March, representing a year-over-year growth of 7.2 percent.
So far this year, the market has grown 9.8 percent, which is broken down into a 13.9% increase in fleet sales and a 9.4 percent jump in retail sales, trade group officials said.
“The market has exceeded the same month for the previous year during five consecutive months,” said GUIA President Ricardo García.
“This month, the industry remained very active and very aggressive in the offers, hosting various events in dealer networks, as well as introducing new models,” he said.
“As for segment sales, there was a marked acceleration in sales of compact SUVs, with 36.5 percent or 465 additional units sold, compared to March 2016,” the auto executive noted.
When broken down by brand, the GUIA report shows that some of the biggest sellers were Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Infiniti, and Kia.
GUIA is an independent, nonprofit organization created in 2006 to manage issues directly related to the automobile industry, as well as Puerto Rico’s general economy. GUIA members represent 23 auto brands and over 96 percent of total new vehicle sales in Puerto Rico.
