The United Automobile Importers Group (GUIA), an organization representing the automotive industry in Puerto Rico, today presented the results of new car sales for January 2021.
The month ended with a total of 10,085 units sold in Puerto Rico in contrast to sales of the same month last year of 6,653, an increase of 51.6% over the previous year. One of the segments that got a significant impact for the month was the minivan segment with an increase of 99.1%, followed by the vanes segment with an increase of 85% and the sedan segment with an increase of 81.1% with the previous year
“January growth is unusual in a mature market like ours, but the reality is that it responds primarily to the effect that the January 2020 earthquakes had, which impacted sales. As part of this growth of January, we also saw an increase in the delivery of rental vehicles of over 205% since units that could not be delivered in December due to production capacity in the factories, were able to be delivered in January. in more than 15 years “, indicated Ricardo M. García, president of GUIA.
As he explained, it is experiencing a high demand driven by federal funds and forecasts the sale of 104,000 units this year, above the 95,000 by 2020.
“With the new U.S. government, the additional funds that had been allocated to the island are expected to begin arriving this year and help energize the economy. And with a significant increase in vaccination getting the sectors they are reopening normally, we have to start meeting the expectations of everyone, both the public and private sectors, “said Garcia.