Used car dealer Jetcon Corporation Limited is maintaining a positive outlook in the wake of having to dispose of 10 units from its electric vehicle (EV) fleet, amid slow sales spurred by the high interest rate environment.

The vehicles, all Nissan Leaf first-generation model, which the company said were “haemorrhaging in value”, together had an estimated value of over $20 million.

“Typically when we have vehicles for a long time, we usually try to cut our losses and get rid of them,” he told the Jamaica Observer earlier this week, noting that the EVs, which were initially purchased with an expectation to have benefited from some duty concession offered by government, was not realised after they fell outside of the prescribe age range, therefore resulting in the company having to pay higher import duties than anticipated.

“Even after keeping the [selling] prices at a moderate level, they still weren’t moving. We had them for over a year and we got an offer from a company and decided it best to cash in on the deal than wait until later when we may not even be able to get a better price,” Jackson said to the Business Observer.

Adding that, while it was not new for the company to dispose of vehicles for various reasons from time to time, “The difference this time around is that we’ve never had to get rid of so many at once.”

The company’s financials, which have been impacted by continued downturns in business owing to a rising interest rate environment and slower sales, saw its losses continue with over $8.2 million during the second quarter accompanied by reduced revenues of $184.3 million.

Year-to-date or half year out-turns also saw a poor performance, recording a 28 per cent dip in revenues which fell t $363.4 million followed by $5.2 million in six month losses.

“With interest rates up and the banks still not lending as much as they used to prior to the fourth quarter of last year, there has been a slowdown in people’s ability to secure loans to purchase items including motor vehicles.

“Even while we believe these rates will come down, we don’t expect to see any major upsurge in business until that happens,” Jackson further said, indicating that with an adequate supply of vehicles remaining on its books, the company’s outlook was positive, especially as activities under its solar business gathers momentum. This business, it additionally said, will compliment the sale of its EV units.

The business, having already secured distributor agreements with about three manufacturers from China, is actively looking to supply the market with a number of renewable energy products including solar panels, inverters and lithium ion batteries, especially now as the company moves to diversify its offerings amid the downturn in its other segment.

“We have significantly increased our inventories and have started to put things in place to get that business going,” Jackson said.