The ongoing consolidation in the auto sales business sees ATL and Stewart’s controlling a major chunk of the new car market and nearly all the high-end segment

It’s a somewhat odd sight that greets the passer-by on Arthur Wint Drive just after passing the entrance to the Edna Manley College campus. On the open-air lot that serves as the bonded auto warehouse for the Stewart’s Auto group (including Stewart Motors) new BMW models share space with new models from their Bavarian rivals, Mercedes-Benz.

It’s yet another confirmation of the consolidation trend in the Jamaican new car sales sphere, a trend which sees the venerable Stewart Group (a family business now in its third generation) controlling a sizeable share of the new car inventory. In addition to the two German marques, the Stewart’s banner now flies over at South Camp Road, the former head offices and showroom of the Issa Transport group, which itself formerly represented the German Audi and Volkswagen brands (more on that later), but also the Japanese marquee Mitsubishi and Honda Motorcycles. Stewart’s has thus now added Mitsubishi to its Suzuki coverage (it introduced the brand to Jamaica almost 30 years ago).

More importantly, with both Benz and BMW under its belt, it now is a major player in the high-end segment of the market, where unit volume may be smaller, but unit price is considerably higher.

Their main competitors in the Euro-luxe segment is the newly created ATL Autohaus, which in similarly short order has snapped up the rights for Jaguar and Land Rover (both British born, but now substantially owned by Indian-based Tata Group, having been sold by the US giant Ford), as well as Audi and VW. Both the Kingston showroom and service centre (next to the Mas Camp) and the Montego Bay facility (which will formally open in September) are now serving customers. The ATL brand is of course owned by renowned tycoon Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart. ATL also controls new Honda motorcar sales.

Their main competitors in the Euro-luxe segment is the newly created ATL Autohaus, which in similarly short order has snapped up the rights for Jaguar and Land Rover

Truth be told, the auto industry globally is caught up in some cross-winds. After almost grinding to a halt over the last two years, several car makers are now reporting robust sales and rosier outlooks, but interestingly it is in the premium segment that the rebound is largely taking place. BMW Group, for instance, is on a growth track in Latin America with a substantial increase in sales of 85% in the first half of 2010. A total of 9,685 BMW and MINI vehicles were sold region wide in 2010 already (prev. yr. 5,235 units). In July, BMW Latin America manager Christian Meindl was on hand at Orchard Road for the official presentation of the redesigned 5-series sedan and its “cousin” the 5GT (meant to function as a sport crossover). “Latin America is one of our fastest growing regions, and Jamaica is a very important market for us in that region,” he said.

range-rover-sport-stormer-edition

Land Rover and particularly the iconic Range Rover marquee (celebrating 40 years this year) also provided some vindication for Tata Motors, posting sales gains (at least in units) on an almost monthly basis over the last two quarters.

By contrast, makers of economy models continued to slump, with Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda and Suzuki all posting overall sales declines. Toyota was also hit by the now famous recall case which proved to be a “perfect storm” from a PR standpoint.

But the Jamaican market is largely price-driven, with pre-owned vehicles still the dominant choice. The new car segment has contracted to the point where the trade group the Automobile Dealers association (ADA) has now seen fit to cancel its former mainstay all-model auto show, and there’s no word as to when the event could return, if at all. Individual dealers have taken to using hotel concourses, shopping malls and other high-traffic areas for one-off displays and sales pitches.

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Businessuite checked in with several car dealers, who all related the same tale: market is stagnant, slow. “The overall business climate right now is not too conducive, much less the market for cars,” remarked one dealer who, as a trader in both new and pre-owned models, straddles both segments. Its noteworthy that while interest rates have come down somewhat, and the Jamaican dollar has gained ground on the major benchmark currencies, retail prices remain high and consumers are finding it hard to balance their regular obligations, much less to take on the onus of a monthly loan repayment.

Nonetheless, the car dealers are soldiering on, albeit with far less bombast than was characteristic in previous years. Oddly enough, this is occurring at a time when the industry ought to have a more vibrant presence in the market. There is the prospect of a few new and redesigned models coming down the pike before year-end (the all-new VW Amarok pick-up and the re-designed X3 mid-sized SUV from BMW). But otherwise, new car sales output seems set to remain in low gear for the foreseeable future – with less diversity in dealer ownership.