Car and truck manufacturers saw their sales fall by nearly 10 percent in October despite the easing of mobility restrictions.
The automotive industry sold 22,581 units in October, which is 9.8 percent lower than last year’s 25,023 units, according to a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association on Thursday.
Comparing this from the previous month, however, sales grew by 5.1 percent from 21,493 units.
Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said that “based on the October 2021 sales performance, the auto industry remains strong and will certainly surpass last year’s overall performance.”
Year-on-year, passenger car (PC) sales for the month dropped by 15.2 percent to 7,626 units from 8,988 units in 2020. Sales of the commercial vehicle (CV) segment slipped by 6.7 percent to 14,955 units in October from 16,045 units last year.
As of end-October, the total industry sales rose by 23.8 percent to 214,186 units from 173,035 units last year.
A chunk of the vehicles sold were CVs, which grew by 21.3 percent to 145,578 units for the 10-month period from the previous year’s 119,968.
PC sales rose by 29.3 percent to 68,608 units in January to October from 53,067 units a year ago.
Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. contributed nearly half of the total industry sales for the period. The local dealer of the Japanese car brand registered a 38.2-percent year-on-year sales growth after selling 103,475 units as of end-October.
This is followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. and Ford Motor Company Phils. Inc., which sold 29,565 units and 16,294 units, respectively.
“Likewise, we continue to discuss relevant issues with the government aimed at ensuring full recovery of the industry as the country’s economic growth outlook is upgraded,” Gutierrez said.
Tough quarantine curbs were also responsible for the poor performance of local vehicle manufacturers in September. Campi and TMA reported that car sales in September fell by 12.4 percent to 21,493 units from 24,523 units sold in the same month last year.