The local automobile manufacturers saw their sales dip by 7.3 percent in February after selling fewer passenger cars (PC), according to a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).
The Campi-TMA report on Thursday noted that industry sales fell to 24,304 units in February from 26,230 units last year.
On a monthly basis, however, the figures in February rose by 17 percent from the 20,765 units sold in January.
“The February 2022 sales have regained a double-digit growth amid the improved consumer confidence as the country has shifted to ‘low-risk’ for Covid-19 classification, according to the government report – a welcome development for the industry,” Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said.
“The industry is anticipating to see a continued recovery this month as the economy further reopens, downgrading to the least restrictive alert level 1 in major areas including the National Capital Region starting this month.”
In February, the PC segment saw its sales drop by 25.1 percent to 5,914 units from 7,899 units a year ago.
Commercial vehicle (CV) sales, meanwhile, were nearly flat. This segment sold 18,390 units for the month, slightly higher than the 18,331 units sold a year ago.
In the first two months of the year, Philippine car manufacturers sold 45,069 units, 9.2 percent lower than the previous year’s 49,610 units.
PC sales in the first two months of the year slid 23 percent to 11,698 units. In the same period, CV sales were down 3 percent to 33,371 units.
Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. maintained the top spot as it accounts for nearly half of the market share. Its sales as of end-February declined by 7.4 percent to 22,120 units from 23,894 units year-on-year.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. and Nissan Philippines Inc. followed with sales of 6,458 units and 3,538 units, respectively.
“As the economy reopens, the safety and health of the public is paramount to prevent another wave of virus infections and cause disruption anew to the recovery of the industry, which targets to sell 336,000 units this year – a 17-percent increase from the actual volume last year,” Gutierrez said.