@Madelyn-Luskey, there are a few things going on here. First, there are two time periods - the ten months in which Marvel doubled its total sales and increased market share in an overall flat market and the three months in which Marvel's total sales stayed flat but it lost overall market share, indicating that the overall market grew while Marvel's sales stayed flat.
Let's give it some theoretical numbers to ground the explanation a little. Let's say for the first ten months there were 100 cars sold every month. At the beginning of that time period Marvel was selling 10 cars per month and by the end it was selling 20. That means they doubled their total sales volume and increased in market share from 10% to 20%.
During the following three months, Marvel continued to sell 20 cars per month, however, their market share of 20% dropped off steeply. We don't know how steeply, but let's say that dropped back down to 10% market share. If this were the case, then the overall market would need to have sold 200 cars per month for Marvel to have sold 20 but have gone back down to 10% market share.
The question stem, then, is asking for which of the answer choices cannot possibly be true. For the answer to be correct, there must be no possibility of it being true, while if an answer choice has any chance of being true, it is the wrong answer.
(A) says that the overall sales of cars in Calistan dropped in the three month period, but we know that Marvel maintained it's sales numbers while losing market share, so this is impossible. (Right Answer).
(B) for Marvel to increase it's market share in a market that is not growing, other companies must be selling fewer cars. It is possible for (B) to be false, but it is also possible (and quite likely) that it is true. Therefore, it is the wrong answer choice.
(C) is largely unrelated to anything else in the argument, so we cannot know whether it is true or false. If we cannot evaluate the truth or falsehood of an answer choice, then we cannot conclude that it must be false. Since the question is asking for the answer choice that "CANNOT be true." We cannot choose (C).
(D) again, we cannot know whether this is true or not, which means we cannot determine with 100% certainty that it cannot be true.
(E) we cannot know this from the information given, so it may or may not be true, which does not allow us to determine with 100% certainty that it cannot be true.
I hope that helps.
Maria-FoncecaSeptember 16, 2018
I think this question is worthy of a video explanation. I've spent half hour reading the explanations and trying to figure it out, but I'm struggling. I have problems agreeing with answer choice A because it says says that the overall sales of cars in Calistan dropped in the three month period, EXCEPT Marvel, we know that is true.
Maria-FoncecaSeptember 16, 2018
Sorry I don't know much about economics, but I need to understand this. So the fact that Marvel's total sales stayed flat but it lost overall market share, indicates that the overall economy increased??? How can the shares of a company decrease when economy increases?
AnitaSeptember 16, 2018
@Maria-Foneca If Marvel's sales stayed flat but its market share decreased, it means that the same number of cars produced is now less of the market overall. This means that there are more cars being produced by companies other than Marvel.
For example, if the country produces 500 cars a month and Marvel produced 100 of those, their share was 20%. Say they continue to produce 100 cars, but now they're only 10% of the market. This means that there are now 1,000 cars being produced a month in the country.
Does that make sense?
niki-dowlatshahiOctober 11, 2018
yes, it makes sense. It made sense six posts ago. No video necessary, its basic economics of ratios; not mathematical algorithms.
Maria-FoncecaDecember 28, 2018
Thank you for explaining it, Anita! It makes sense!
RaviDecember 28, 2018
@Maria-Fonceca,
Happy you found Anita's answer helpful. Let us know if you have any more questions!
ShirnelApril 27, 2020
I agree with Maria, quantitative questions should have video explanations.
A confuses me but is it right because:
The total monthly sales within Calistan also include Marvel Automobile Company and the mentioning of"other than marvel" is just to throw us off?
shunheMay 3, 2020
Hi @Shirnel,
Thanks for the question! So remember that the passage tells us that Marvel’s share of the market decreased, though its monthly sales within Calistan remained constant. Its monthly sales are in terms of absolute numbers: let’s say 10,000 cars/month. That stays constant. But its share of the market—the percentage of the market that its cars take up—decreased. So let’s say that before the emission standards, 50,000 cars were sold per month in Calistan. That means Marvel would have had 20% market share, since it would have accounted for 10,000/50,000 of the total number of cars sold in Calistan each month.
Now, what needs to be true for sales numbers to remain constant, but for market share to decrease? Well, if the numerator in 10,000/50,000 can’t change, then the denominator has to, and specifically, the denominator has to get bigger. As the denominator increases, Marvel’s share decreases proportionally, so if 100,000 cars total are sold in a month in Calistan, then Marvel’s share decreases to 10%.
So what cannot be true? Well, (A) tells us that companies other than Marvel also had decreasing sales. But the two groups that (A) gives us: Marvel, and companies other than Marvel, should account for all of the new cars sold in Calistan. But if Marvel’s car sales stayed constant, and other companies decreased overall, then the denominator would have to decrease, which would mean Marvel’s share should’ve increased. But this isn’t what happened, and so (A) can’t be true.
As for video explanations, please direct any support related issues (including video explanations) to our support staff by tapping "support" from the left menu or by calling 855.483.7862 ext. 2 Monday-Friday 9am-6pm PT.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
studybugNovember 5, 2023
I still don't agree with the answer. For "The total monthly sales within Calistan of new cars by companies other than Marvel Automobile Company decreased over the three months following the imposition of the emission standards." We do not have enough information about other car companies beside Marvel following the emission standards. Also, note *other than Marvel Automobile* contradicts with "(A) says that the overall sales of cars in Calistan dropped in the three month period, but we know that Marvel maintained it's sales numbers while losing market share, so this is impossible. (Right Answer)."
Emil-KunkinNovember 6, 2023
We actually know quite a lot about all of the car companies excluding marvel. Let's take a look.
We know that before the imposition, marvels market share doubled although the total number of cars sold did not change. For example
In order for marvels market share to fall while the total number of cars it sold remained constant, the number of cars sold by other manufacturers must have increased. To complete the illustration above in order to reach 5 percent market share it would have to be
So we know that the aggregate number of cars sold by manufacturers other than marvel must have increased between the imposition of the standard and the present
