AVID auto sales down 15% in February

MANILA, Philippines — Sales of the country’s group of vehicle importers dipped 15 percent in February from a year ago on weak demand for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

Data released by the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (AVID) yesterday showed the group sold a total of 5,401 units in February, lower than the 6,342 units last year.

Passenger car (PC) sales declined by 23 percent to 1,518 units from 1,982 units.

The group’s light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales were down 13 percent to 3,728 units.

CV sales, meanwhile, surged 154 percent to 155 units in February. Compared to the 5,262 units AVID sold in January, the group’s February sales climbed three percent.

For the first two months, AVID sold 10,663 units, 10 percent lower than the 11,890 units in the same period a year ago. AVID’s PC sales fell 19 percent to 2,868 units.

LCV sales slid nine percent to 7,522 units as of end-February while CV sales surged by 217 percent to 273 units.

“AVID ended 2020 on a high note. And while we acknowledge that recovery will not come quickly, we remain focused on taking baby steps at all fronts of our respective businesses and count on government to heed our call for a more comprehensive, long-term approach to reopening the economy by creating more job opportunities, upgrading infrastructure and logistics, and improving the ease and cost of doing business,” AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government’s imposition of provisional safeguard duties amounting to P70,000 for PCs and P110,000 for LCVs brought into the country from overseas, also poses a challenge to automotive firms in the Philippines.

The government may impose safeguard measures to provide relief to the domestic industry when it is hurt by a surge in imports.

The Tariff Commission is conducting an investigation to determine if the safeguard measure on vehicle imports is needed.