LOCAL car sales fell 16 percent for the whole of last year on the back of declines in all but one segment, but the industry is bullish it will rebound this year.
Total car sales for 2018 shrank 16 percent to 357,410 units, from 425,673 units in 2017, according to a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association. This was largely due to double-digit sales slowdown in five segments.
Sales of passenger cars last
year fell 21.8 percent to 109,020 units from the preceding year’s 139,424 units.
The case was the same for the commercial vehicle segment, as it registered a 13.2-percent slump in sales to 248,390 units, from 286,249 units. The Asian utility vehicle bracket was hit hardest at 48,271 units sold, down 39.6 percent from 79,886 units sold.
On the other hand, sales of light commercial vehicles in 2018 dipped 2 percent to 185,430 units from 189,248 units in 2017, while that of light trucks declined 22.9 percent to 7,619 units, from 9,888 units.
Trucks and buses at category 4 was the lone bright spot for the industry, as sales improved 4.8 percent to 5,076 units, from 4,845 units. Those of category 5, meanwhile, suffered a decline of 16.3 percent to 1,994 units, from 2,382 units.
The dismal turnout in sales last year, however, failed to put off industry players, as they are optimistic figures will pick up this year “with GDP per capita on a high level, more new vehicle models to be introduced and a strong economy,” said Rommel T. Gutierrez, president of Campi.
“The [automotive] industry has been recovering since the second half of 2018. We are confident that the continued month-on-month positive sales growth rate during that period will be sustained in 2019,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
In terms of market share, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. is still the leader with a dominant 42.81-percent share of the entire industry.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. is at far second with a share of 18.89 percent, while Nissan Philippines Inc. came in third at 9.78 percent. Rounding up the top 5 are Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. and Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with shares
of 6.59 percent and 6.52 percent,
respectively.
Industry players earlier attributed the sales decline to several factors, including the taxes on automobile imposed by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, record-high inflation and unstable
fuel prices.
Under the TRAIN law, automobile excise tax is placed at 4 percent for vehicles up to P600,000; 10 percent for over P600,000 to P1 million; 20 percent for over P1 million to P4 million; and 50 percent for hybrid vehicles. Only electric-powered cars are exempted from the excise.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes