Most of the new cars that Regis Motors sold last year were purchased by residents of Blomenville. Regis Motors sold m...

Katherine on January 1, 2019

Hi @crichburg1,

The question stem asks us to find the answer choice that must also be true, given the statements in the passage above. Let’s look at each answer choice in turn.

Answer A says that Regis Motors (RM) sold more new cars to residents of Blomenville (RoB) last year than they did any previous year. While the passage does say that that RM sold more new cars last year than it did any previous year, it is not necessarily true that they sold more new cars to RoB than ever before. They may have had customers from other towns that made up the increase in total sales. It is possible that RM sold the same or fewer number of new cars to RoB last year, so long as they total number of new cars sold was the highest ever.

Answer B says that the total number of new cars purchased by RoB was greater last year than any previous year. This is also not necessarily true. Just because RM sold more new cars than in any previous year does not necessarily mean that RoB bought more new cars than ever before.

Answer C says that another car retailer sold the most new cars to RoB last year. This is not necessarily true because there could be many other car retailers who, when all of their sales are combined, sold more new cars that RM. Just because RM did not sell most of the new cars purchased by RoB, does not necessarily mean that there is another single car retailer who sold the majority. Because there could be a number of other retailers, this answer is not necessarily true.

Answer D says that the number of new cars purchased last year by RoB is greater than the number of new cars sold by RM. This must be true. We know this is true because the passage states that most new cars purchased by RoB were not sold by RM. Therefore we know that the total number of new cars purchased by RoB must be greater than the less-than-majority portion sold to them by RM. Answer D is the correct choice.

Answer E says RM’s share in the new car market in Blomenville increased over the year before. While we know that RM sold more new cars last year than ever before that does not necessarily mean that their overall share in the market increased. It is possible that the other car retailers also sold more cars last year and so their market share remained the same. Without knowing how the other car retailers in the Blomeville market performed last year, it is impossible to know whether RM’s share in the market increased, decreased, or remained the same.