By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.met

A leading auto dealer said that he had seen a “big boom” in high-end vehicle purchases coming off last month’s BMDA car show, telling Tribune Business, “I can’t keep them in stock”.

Ben Albury, general manager at Bahamas Bus & Truck said that he had seen great demand for high-end vehicles ranging from $50,000-$80,000. “We were very pleased with the outcome of the car show. We have seen very good results mostly in the very high end. I can’t keep them in stock. It seems to me that the high ticket items are moving very quickly whereas the more middle range items are moving rather slowly,” said Mr Albury.

He added: “I think that is a reflection of where we are in the economy. The people who have money are able to spend it and more of the lower middle class are having more difficulty with the financing. The banks offered some excellent promotions. There were some very attractive interest rates and so therefore we have seen a big boom in the very high-end vehicles and normally what we would have considered our bread and butter items are moving slowly.

“I’m completely out of my higher end vehicles and we have seen very little movement on the lower end.”

Among the high end vehicles selling quickly, Mr Albury said, were the Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, the Dodge Ram and the Jeep Wrangler.

“Those are moving well,” he said.

“We have the Mitsubishi Lancer and Outlander selling but at a slower rate than the more exclusive vehicles,” Mr Albury added.

Rick Lowe, director/operations manager at Nassau Motor Company, the Honda and Chevrolet auto dealer, said that the company was also seeing positive results from the car show although he had no confirmed number as yet.

“It has been a little bit better than previous car shows but I don’t have numbers yet. Sales are up a bit for the month. For us, however, we won’t really know until the end of the month,” said Mr Lowe.