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Friday, March 20, 2026
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‘Bloodbath’ fears over auto market saturation BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamian auto market could suffer “a bloodbath” starting as early as the 2026 second half, a dealer warned yesterday, as he and others voiced concerns about the industry “hitting saturation point”. Fred Albury, principal at the Auto Mall, which is the authorised distributor for the Toyota, Hyundai and BMW brands, told Tribune Business that “the market cannot continue to absorb the amount of new vehicles coming in” with an influx of lower-priced Chinese brands further adding to the competitive pressures.
Dealer: Buyers ‘can’t continue absorbing’ new vehicle spike Slowdown may hit in 2026 second half but sales still ‘robust’ Shipping and freight fuel surcharge ‘doubles’ over oil price
he attributed to the arrival of Chinese-made new autos entering the Bahamian market. He disclosed that he and Auto Mall are receiving two to three phone calls per day from Japanese used car dealers, which he interpreted as a sign they are “hurting”. The same “saturation” concerns were voiced by Ben Albury, the Bahamas Motor Dealers Association’s (BMDA) president and Bahamas Bus and Truck’s principal, albeit to a lesser extent. He agreed that competitively-priced new Chinese made vehicles are displacing the used autos that many Bahamians have traditionally relied upon as a lower-cost transportation option.
THE warring parties battling over the $200m Rosewood Exuma development have supplied conflicting evidence over whether the shipping channel that will be used to supply the project with fuel and other key commodities is “safe and navigable”. Jose Baldwin, in a February 10, 2026, Supreme Court affidavit sworn on behalf of Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club, the project’s next-door neighbour and leading opponent, argued that the route the developer, Miamibased Yntegra Group, intends to employ through Sampson Cay’s North Bay will “remain operationally unsafe and impractical” regardless of how much dredging is done. The location of Rosewood Exuma’s service dock, and
Minister: ‘Gov’t can’t be broke’ and rejects $242m arrears fear BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
accompanying sea wall, and the amount of dredging required to provide a safe commercial shipping channel through North Bay for the resort’s supply vessels, is a central feature of the ongoing Supreme Court battle where Turtlegrass and its principal, Bob Coughlin, are seeking to overturn Yntegra’s certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) approval via Judicial Review.
A CABINET minister said the near-doubling of the Government’s year-end payment arrears to $242m at 2025’s close does not signal it is in financial trouble as he dismissed the Opposition’s concerns. Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, said the existence of outstanding payments such as arrears and unpaid invoices is a normal part of government operations as new services are continuously rendered while others are being paid. “Every day the government works,” said Mr Halkitis. “Every day you have some vendors who are being paid, and you have vendors who are rendering services that require payment. As a result, every day the Government is paying off bills and incurring new ones.” He explained that the Ministry of Finance also has a responsibility to verify that goods or services were properly delivered before invoices are settled. “A very important function of the Ministry of Finance is to make sure that when someone presents a bill, the work has been done and the Government has received value for money,” Mr Halkitis said. He stressed that there is an important distinction between arrears, which represent significantly overdue obligations, and normal outstanding payables, which simply reflect bills awaiting payment at a given moment. “There’s a difference between arrears and outstanding,” he said. “Arrears means you’re way back. Outstanding means you’ve rendered a service and I have to pay it. That’s simply a snapshot at a particular time.” Unpaid invoices and arrears owed by the Government increased by 97.6 percent, or almost $120m, year-over-year to hit $241.898m as a year-end 2025, the mid-year Budget disclosed. Documents tabled in the House of Assembly revealed that sums
PROJECT - See Page B4
PAYABLES - See Page B7
qualified buyers - many dealers will go into “survival” mode and start discounting prices, with those possessing strong parts and services departments best-placed to survive. Fred Albury told this newspaper that there has already “been a big slow down” in Japanese used car imports, which
Emphasising that it was his personal opinion, the Auto Mall chief said his 50 years in the auto industry has sensitised him to the market cycles and “ups and downs”, alerting him to when a slowdown seems likely. He forecast that, when the “saturation” tipping point is hit - with too many vehicles seeking too few
TRANSPORT - See Page B4
Rosewood Exuma parties battle over ‘safe and navigable’ shipping channel BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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Opponents: ‘Unsafe’ regardless of any dredging Developer: Route ‘poses no navigation hazards’ Sides launch new fight on service dock’s look
A COMPUTER-generated rendering by Rosewood Exuma’s key opponent, Turtlegrass, of what the latter believes its service dock and back-of-house facilities will look like for ‘illustrative purposes’, and the resort developer’s own renderings of how they will appear.
‘Fruitful exchange’ on VAT exempt concerns BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday said the Government had “a very fruitful exchange” with food merchants to address the challenges posed by eliminating VAT on uncooked foods while pledging that Bahamians will see relief from the April 1 target date as promised. Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, acknowledged the industry’s “bottom line concerns” over the decision to treat
the VAT elimination as ‘exempt’, rather than ‘zero rated’, but said the Government’s priority is to ease inflationary and cost of living pressures that continue to hurt Bahamian families. “We spoke about some of the challenges with the elimination of VAT on unprepared food, which goes into effect April 1,” he said. “We walked away confident that everyone will be ready to make the change, and we agreed to continue discussions so that any administrative difficulties
ERADICATE - See Page B5
Skilled workers targeted as top Bahamian export BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas’ highly-educated workforce could become one of its biggest export assets, with officials eyeing professional services - from engineers to digital specialists - as part of a new national export strategy aimed at expanding the country’s presence in global markets. Barry Griffin, executive chairman of the Bahamas Trade Commission, said the Government is moving to establish the country’s first formal export strategy, which will help define
BARRY GRIFFIN priority sectors for investment and outward exports over the next two decades. He added that while exports are frequently cited as a priority by Bahamian businesses and the public, the country has never had a
EARNINGS - See Page B5
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