Sale of new cars on the decline

There was a decline in new car sales in Jamaica during the first half of  the year.

 

According to the Automobile Dealers Association (ADA), sales were down six per cent, compared to last year when there was also a decline.

 

Kent LaCroix, ADA Chairman, linked the fall-off mainly to initial concerns regarding the possibility of new taxes being levied on the motor vehicle trade in the 2015/2016 national budget.

Those fears ultimately were allayed, with the Government not announcing any new motor vehicle duty, but LaCroix believes the pre-budget jitters did affect sales for a while.

Regarding the slide in the value of  the Jamaican dollar, he does not believe this has had a significant impact on the price of new vehicles.

"Fortunately, many of us are dealing with Japanese vehicles, and the yen has been going in the opposite direction, and therefore, that creates a net benefit to the price of the vehicles, so (the prices of) the vehicles haven't been going up significantlhy," he revealed.