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 the same month last year sales of 6,653, representing an increase of 51.6% over the previous year.
One of the segments that achieved 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 of over 51% versus previous year’s totals is extremely unusual in a mature market like ours, but the reality is that it responds primarily to the effect the January 2020 earthquakes had, which logically impacted sales.As part of this January growth, we also saw an increase in rental vehicle delivery of over 205% given that units that could not be delivered in December due to capacity production in the factories, they managed to deliver in January.we had not had January 1 so in more than 15. what we are experiencing is a high demand driven by federal funds and this year, we will not be closed for two and a half months by Order Executive like last year, which is why we forecast an industry of 104K units this year, above the 95K of 2020, “said Ricardo M. García, president of GUIA.
According to him, with the new government in the United States, the additional funds that had been allocated to the Island are expected to start arriving this year and help energize the economy.
“With a significant increase in vaccination getting the sectors to reopen normally, we need to start meeting the expectations of everyone, both public and private. However, everything would be delayed. There is a collective desire to all of us who make up the ecosystem of the automotive industry, being able to be an important part of the engine that contributes to the economic growth of our country and be able to continue serving our customers safely, as we have done so far, “he concluded .
GUIA is an independent, non-profit organization that was established in 2006 to address issues that directly affect the automotive industry, as well as issues related to the overall economy of Puerto Rico.
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