Vehicle sales remain low in November

MANILA, Philippines — Vehicle sales declined 33 percent in November from a year ago amid typhoons that hit the country.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said combined sales with the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reached 23,162 units in November, lower than the 34,465 units in the same month a year ago.

Compared to the 25,023 units sold by CAMPI and TMA in October, the November sales were down by 7.4 percent.

Passenger car (PC) sales slid 18.4 percent to 7,790 units in November from the previous year’s 9,551 units.

Commercial vehicle (CV) sales dropped 38.3 percent to 15,372 units in November from 24,914 units in the same month a year ago.

For the January to November period, CAMPI-TMA sales fell 41.6 percent to 196,197 units from 336,226 units in the same period last year.

As of end-November, PC sales were down 39 percent to 60,857 units from 99,951 units a year ago.

CV sales in the 11-month period decreased by 42.7 percent to 135,340 units from 236,275 units the previous year.

CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez attributed the slowdown to the consecutive typhoons which affected the Bicol, Central Luzon and National Capital Region, among others, and resulted in negative growth anew.

“We remain optimistic in sustaining this level of sales performance for this month, which is critical for the industry to achieve its sales forecast,” he said.

CAMPI expects total vehicle sales in the country to reach just 240,000 units this year due to disruptions in operations brought by Taal Volcano’s eruption and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Last year, total vehicle sales in the country, reached over 416,000 units, of which 369,941 units were sold by CAMPI members.

For next year, Gutierrez said CAMPI sees a 30 to 50 percent increase in the country’s total vehicle sales.