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Philippines: Vehicle sales slow down by 11% in January
MANILA, Philippines — Local car and truck assemblers had a weak start for the year, with sales dropping 11 percent in January from a year ago as a surge in COVID cases dampened demand for big-ticket items including vehicles.
The joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released yesterday showed their combined sales reached 20,765 units in January, lower than the 23,380 units in the same month last year, as both the passenger car (PC) and commercial vehicle (CV) segments registered lower sales.
PC sales were down by 20.7 percent to 5,784 units in January while CV sales slid by 6.9 percent to 14,981 units.
On a month-on-month basis, total CAMPI-TMA sales declined by 25.4 percent.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said the industry anticipated bleak growth last month as historically, the first month of the year is sluggish, coming from the higher growth sales performance recorded every holiday season.
“Unfortunately, we cannot dismiss the impact of tighter restrictions reimposed in January as new COVID cases rose particularly in NCR (National Capital Region) and nearby provinces, resulting in a lukewarm reception for big-ticket items spending,” Gutierrez said.
Last month, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. had the biggest share in vehicle sales, accounting for 47.57 percent.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. was in second place with a 14.23 percent share, while Nissan Philippines Inc. ranked third with an 8.58 percent share.
Taking the fourth spot was Suzuki Philippines Inc. with a 6.89 percent share, followed by Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. in fifth place with a 5.84 percent share.
“The pandemic is something that the industry will have to continue dealing with during these uncertain times just like other industries even with the rollout of the vaccines. Hopefully, COVID-19 will be contained in the foreseeable future so we can all get back on track to recovery,” Gutierrez said.
CAMPI expects sales to grow by 20 to 30 percent this year.
Last year, total CAMPI-TMA sales accelerated by 20 percent to 268,488 units from 223,793 units in 2020.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/02/12/2160192/vehicle-sales-slow-down-11-january