Q15 - For a ten-month period, the

[H.liemail]

the question is about country of Calistan
Marvel Automobile Company
this is a #sale vs %share of market
I noticed it shifts from sales number to market share which is percentage
while the overall number in stays the same
I'm having an hard time understanding the "even though its monthly sales within calistan remained constant at the level reached in the last month of
the ten month period."
we are looking for a must be false answer choice

[bbirdwell]

I'm having an hard time understanding the "even though its monthly sales within calistan remained constant at the level reached in the last month of
the ten month period."

So there are two periods mentioned in the argument: the ten month period, and a three month period following the ten month period (the three months following the imposition of the emission standard).

The quote you mentioned means that throughout this 3 month period, monthly sales remained at the same level they were at at the end of the 10 month period.

[chik2080]

When I first did this question I approached it as a mathematical expression as such:
t= time
t=0 t=10 t=13
market share= 10% 20% 18% (arbitrary)
Marvel $= $10 $20 $20
total $= 100 $100 $110 (arbitrary)

The only way the market share could go down but the actual dollars stay the same is if the denominator (or $110 figure) went up.

Is this correct? The answer suggests the total $ figure decreased which would not mathematically make sense.
and B) could be the answer becuase we have no idea of the other car model market share figures

[iridium77]

The question is asking what must be false, so b.) cannot be correct because we are told that Marvel's sales doubled while the total monthly sales remained constant. So it is certain that the market share of companies other than Marvel declined.

[wj097]

The question is asking what must be false, so b.) cannot be correct because we are told that Marvel's sales doubled while the total monthly sales remained constant. So it is certain that the market share of companies other than Marvel declined.

I have a different opinion on (B).

Only thing certain is the CHANGE between the beginning and the end of the 10 yr period; any other yrs, we cannot say for certain. For example, the sales can be X in yr 1, 10X in yr 7, and 2X in yr 10 (which means that combined M/S of others actually increased over the last 3yr period). So (B) is neither true nor false.

(A) False; M's sales CANNOT stay constant, if total sales decreased and M's share decreased
(B) We don't know
(C) We don't know; nothing is certain on "what if" situation
(D) We don't know; nothing is certain on "what if" situation
(E) Out of scope; profit

[ericha3535]

Here are the things that you guys need to remember before jumping into the questions.

1) during 10 month period, the number of new sales car is constant
2) Marvel Automobile (or MA) share has doubled (it's percentage) as well as its total sales
3) after this 10 month period, MA's share goes down substantially
4) YET, its sales number is sames as during 10 month period.

Combining 1 and 2, you get this idea: If MA got bigger, this must mean that OTHER companies' share must have gone down (considering that the number is constant)

combining 3 and 4, you get this idea: share went down yet the total number of new sales car stays the same... how the hell is the possible? ONLY viable option is if the TOTAL size of PIE got bigger.
EX. The share of MA is 10% and sells 100 cars
Now, share of MA is 5% yet still sells 100 cars.
How can you do that?
ONLY if the total share went up to 2000 cars compared to 1000 cars.

My thought to B: the reason B is wrong is because of the word "BEFORE." During the 10 month period, again, the share of MA has doubled. Thus, it could be true that the total share other than MA has decreased.

[Mab6q]

B must be true, right? Because if it didnt decrease, then how would Marvel's increase.

[CynthiaZ]

Hi

I got confused by this question even though reading above comments.
I guess A is based on the last sentence, but still not sure why A is correct and B and C are wrong.
I think it is due to the language...such as total monthly sales, share...etc. Those business words confuses me sometimes.
I thought based on the last sentence, since it says M's share decreased, that means other companies share increased.
But then it says the sale if M remained constant, so that means other companies sales are more than that.
This contradicts what A says, so A is the answer. Am I correct? But what I am saying is kinda different from what others say I think...

The reasons B and C are wrong maybe:
B-we dont know about the specific period before the imposition, because the passage only talks about 10 month in total and 3 month aft the imposition.
C-we dont know what happens in "would" world. Anything can happen if there is no specific facts.

Did I understand correctly or I misunderstood something?

Thank you,

[maryadkins]

Good call on (B) and (C).

As for (A), it's important to realize the difference between the sales staying constant and share decreasing at the same time. This means Marvel is selling the same number of cars—let's say 100—but that 100 just became a smaller piece of the overall pie of cars sold. In other words, imagine this:

Month 10 (of the 10-month period): Marvel sells 100 cars; 400 cars total are sold in Calistan. That means Marvel has 25% share of the market.
Months 1-3 (following the 10-month period): Marvel sells 100 cars, still (because its "monthly sales remained constant"), but its share of the market "declined dramatically." The ONLY way this can happen is if the total # of cars in Calistan increased: say to 1,000. Now, Marvel only has 10% share of the overall market.

(A) is impossible because of this scenario that HAS to be true. The total number of cars sold cannot decrease. It has to increase for the final sentence of the paragraph to be true.

[mitrakhanom1]

I got confused when it says total monthly sales of new cars. In previous posts we are talking about the total number of cars sold, but I thought that meant the total $ amount of cars sold. Meaning instead of 100 cars sold per month, pretending we know each car is sold for X dollars, I thought it was 100 cars times X dollars= the total amount of monthly sales. Either way, does it matter to know the distinction of the two when attempting this problem? How should I have picked number of car sales from the wording in the prompt?