Reports have surfaced that all is not well in the used car trade on the heels of a RJR News report yesterday that vehicle imports fell in the first five months of the year.
The Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association, JUCDA, says the sector is in a slump due to the effects of the recent slide in the value of the Jamaican dollar.
This has pushed car prices out of the reach of potential buyers.
President of the Association, Lynvale Hamilton, says high international demand for reconditioned Japanese vehicles has made matters worse.
Mr Hamilton said "the cars in Japan are also holding the prices. Normally at this time we would see a decrease in the prices. We are not seeing it at all and this is due to the fact that you have the more developed countries like the United Arabs Emirates and Russia... these countries they import like 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles a month while we will only import like 700. So the demand on that side is very great and they pay higher prices for the vehicles in the auction so we really can't compete with them.
The Statistical Institute of Jamaica, STATIN, says car imports between January and May totalled US$67m.
That was a 25 percent dip from the US$89m spent last year.
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