by Tracy Moore

Prices of new cars may soon be driven upward as a result of rising international petroleum prices.

A SATURDAY SUN check with dealers revealed that some were anticipating a drop in sales.

"We know that our Toyotas are going
to increase in price because of the increase
of fuel prices across the world, as well as the cost
of freighting from Japan, with the appreciation
of the Japanese yen in
the last three months," said managing director
of Nassco Limited
Roger Hill.

"With the cost of living going up . . . the individual has less buying power which means that people may hold on to vehicles for probably a little longer to see what happens, so I definitely feel we will see a slowdown in sales in the coming month," he added.

An estimated 3 000 new vehicles, including cars, cranes, motorcycles, minibuses, route taxis and tractors, have hit the road in the last six months.

Nassco had a 15 per cent increase in sales in the last three months, compared with the same three months in 2007 and has sold more than 400 vehicles in the last six months, with the Yaris being the No. 1 sale.

"A lot of people who come and buy the Yaris from us say it is because it is fuel efficient and they have resorted to a 1300 cc (smaller engine) vehicle. They are very happy with the performance. And we have seen that now for
the last two to three years," he added.

Sales manager at Courtesy Garage Samuel Gaston said that in the last six months, they sold more than 250 vehicles, most of which were passenger cars, some 60 SUVs and a few forklifts.

Fuel efficient

"It is still early days yet for projecting if there will be any decrease in sales because of the increase
[in the price of diesel],"
he commented. "But people for the last year
or two have been trying
to get more fuel-efficient vehicles, so you find that the sales were more
in the basic cars."

Gaston continued:
"The only thing we have
to watch for, with the rising price of oil, is the exchange rates. The prices of vehicles will increase. That is what we will
soon have to combat.

"Our suppliers have already informed us that we will be saddled with some price increases and it may trickle down, depending on the model. So we are now in the process of recalculating our pricing," he said.

However, he said the costs might only be passed on "if you're talking about the price [increase] moving to $3 000 and such, and the car, for instance, is a particular range of duty and its increase moves the vehicle into the next bracket of duties, that price may trickle down to the buyer because of its jump into another category.

"If the cost from the suppliers is $500, we would probably absorb that," he said.

Efforts to speak to Simpson Motors' general manager Debbie Simpson and McEnearney Quality Inc.'s chief executive officer Mark Hamilton
on the issue were unsuccessful.