MANILA, Philippines — Vehicle assemblers registered a 45 percent drop in sales in the nine months to September with the pandemic affecting demand for vehicles, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) said.
Despite the drop, CAMPI remains upbeat of seeing recovery this year as sales went up by over 30 percent on a month-on-month basis in September from a month earlier.
The CAMPI and TMA’s joint report released yesterday showed total sales reached 148,012 units in the January to September period, lower than last year’s 267,364 units.
Passenger car sales fell by 45 percent to 44,079 units as of end-September from 80,317 units in the same period a year ago.
Sales of commercial vehicles were also down by 44 percent to 103,933 units in the nine-month period from 187,047 units in the previous year.
In September, total CAMPI and TMA sales slid by 23 percent to 24,523 units from 31,820 units in the same month last year.
PC sales in September decreased by 12 percent to 8,556 units from the 9,721 units sold a year ago.
CV sales posted a bigger reduction of 28 percent to 15,967 units in September from the previous year’s 22,099 units.
Compared to the total vehicle sales of 17,906 units in August, CAMPI and TMA’s September sales rose by 37 percent.
Sales of PCs jumped by 57 percent in September from the 5,454 units sold in August.
CV sales also posted a 28 percent growth in September from the 12,452 units in August.
Citing the 37 percent month-on-month increase in sales in September, CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said the group remains optimistic the automotive industry would recover by the end of the year.
“But we are still cautious that consumer spending is below pre-pandemic levels due to the evident shifts to essentials goods and services,” he said.