Vehicle sales fell 11.5 percent in August to 14,847 units from 17,906 units in the same month last year, after Metro Manila was placed under the most stringent form of lockdown again.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Truck Manufacturers Association said in a joint report sales of passenger cars dropped 10.3 percent to 4,894 units in August from 5,484 units a year ago, while those of commercial vehicles decreased 13 percent to 10,953 units from 12,452 units.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez attributed the negative performance to the decline in economic activity and consumer spending in general, which was worsened by the two-week lockdown in the National Capital Region and other areas during the month.
“The message of this bleak performance is worth noting: stricter lockdown strategy in response to curbing the COVID-19 pandemic affects the auto industry’s recovery this year. The industry targets to achieve total sales of 295,400 units or 20.9 percent growth than the actual sales recorded last year,” Gutierrez said.
Data showed automotive sales on a month-on-month basis fell 26.3 percent from 21,498 units in July. Passenger car sales tumbled nearly a third from 7,102 units while commercial vehicles declined 23.9 percent from 14,396 units in July.
The two industry groups said despite the slump in August sales, the industry sold 170,112 units in the first eight months, up 37.8 percent from 123,489 units in the same period last year.
Passenger car sales climbed 53.1 percent in the eight-month period to 54,402 units from 35,523 units a year earlier. Commercial vehicles sold were also higher by 31.5 percent to 115,710 units from 87,966 units.
Toyota Motor Philippine Corp. led industry sales with 48.43-percent market share, followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. with 14.06 percent. Completing the top 5 were Suzuki Philippines Inc. with 7.61-percent share, Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. with 7.6 percent and Nissan Philippines Inc. with 6.76 percent.