JMMB Bank Puts 73 Repossessed Vehicles Worth $250 Million Up for Bids

JMMB Bank is moving to dispose of 73 repossessed motor vehicles with a combined value of $250 million, marking the second advertised vehicle auction from Jamaica's banking industry within a month.

The cheapest unit in the pool is a Mitsubishi priced at $370,000, while the highest-priced vehicle is a Porsche carrying a $15 million tag.

Responding to questions from the Financial Gleaner, JMMB chief marketing officer Kerry-Ann Stimpson said, "There is nothing unusual about the listing contained in the stated newspaper advertisement." She did not offer a view on whether the repossessions were linked to the impact of Hurricane Melissa or to financial pressure on individual borrowers.

"We have never surveyed buyers about their purchasing decisions, we will not speculate about their decision-making processes or buying behaviour," Stimpson said.

The vehicles cover model years 2015 through 2026 and may be inspected at three sites in Kingston. The list offers a glimpse of pressure in the motor-vehicle loan market for some customers, while also showing the expense banks face when trying to recover delinquent credit.

JMMB Bank already posts private-treaty sale assets on its website, but also places notices in newspapers to put the listings before a wider audience.

"We have found that this dual-channel approach to communication has successfully helped to maximise the awareness of the assets' availability for bidding, which increases the likelihood of their being sold," Stimpson added.

The repossessed stock is made up largely of mid-market sport utility vehicles and passenger cars, though the prices run from budget units to high-end models. Among the most expensive entries are a 2021 Porsche Cayenne at $15 million, a 2022 BMW X6 at $12.4 million, a 2023 Audi A4 at $7.17 million, a 2022 Hyundai Palisade at $7.05 million, a 2019 Audi Q8 at $6.83 million, and a 2023 Kia Sorento at $6.74 million. The number of luxury vehicles on offer points to repayment difficulty extending beyond lower-cost borrowers.

The middle of the schedule includes a 2024 Honda BRV for $5.4 million, a 2022 Honda Accord for $5.4 million, a 2020 Toyota Harrier for $5.47 million, and a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan for $5.36 million. At the low end, a 2015 Toyota Probox is being offered at $530,000, a 2015 Honda Civic at $550,000, and the lowest-priced vehicle, a 2017 Mitsubishi Attrage, at $370,000.

Honda accounts for the largest share of the list, with 14 vehicles across Civic, Accord, CR-V and BRV lines. Hyundai follows with 13 units, while Kia has eight. The presence of several 2022 to 2024 vehicles, along with a 2026 Nissan Qashqai listed at $6.23 million, indicates that some fairly recent loans are in the repossession batch, including vehicles bought within the last two years.

After Hurricane Melissa last October, JMMB Bank gave affected customers moratoria of up to three months. For the nine months ended December, its loan book expanded by 9.0 per cent to $236.2 billion. The bank has not disclosed loan impairment charges tied to Melissa, while write-offs climbed 25 per cent to $1.5 billion for the year ended March 2025. It did not break out the amount connected to vehicle loans.

For Jamaica's eight commercial banks overall, non-performing loans, or debts unpaid for at least 90 days, fell to $37 billion in March, down from both February and the same month a year earlier. That represented less than 2.8 per cent of total loans across the system, far under the 10 per cent level the banking regulator regards as a warning mark.

In the household and individual lending segment, where car loans are grouped, non-performing loans declined to $23.5 billion from $29 billion in February and $28 billion one year before.

The vehicles can be viewed at KACS Group Corporation on Dunrobin Avenue, JAMZONE Limited on Hagley Park Road, and Original Auto Source on Roosevelt Avenue, all in Kingston. Written offers are to be sent to [email protected].

The JMMB listing follows last month's move by National Commercial Bank to put about 110 vehicles up for auction at Nihon Trucking on Constant Spring Road in Kingston.