Sales of imported vehicles went down 18 percent in the third quarter, which distributors blamed to rising inflation, interest rate hikes and fuel-price surges.
In a report on Tuesday, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (Avid) said sales from July to September plunged to 22,774 units, down 18 percent from 27,605 units during the same period last year. This put Avid’s year-to-date sales at 65,917 units, a 13-percent decline from the previous year’s 75,949 units.
Third-quarter passenger car sales was 30 percent slower at 7,350 units, from 10,497 units during the same stretch last year. Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari) continues to be the top dog in this segment, as it sold 4,521 passenger vehicles from July to September.
Passenger car sales for the three quarters slipped 20 percent to 23,531 units, from last year’s 29,266 units. Hari’s year-to-date passenger car sales was at 15,359 units, making it the leading Avid member-dealer in this segment.
On the other hand, Ford Group Philippines Inc. topped the light commercial vehicle bracket with 5,445 units sold in the third quarter. This put FGPI’s year-to-date sales of LCV at 17,600 units, followed by Hari at 10,081 units and Suzuki Philippines Inc. at 9,289 units.
Avid saw an 11-percent drop in its LCV sales in the third quarter at 15,279 units as against last year’s 17,108 units.
Total LCV sales from January to September was at 41,808 units. This was 10 percent lower than last year’s 46,683 units sold during the same period.
Car distributors mainly attributed the sales decline to interest rate hikes and accelerating inflation, which it said made it difficult for consumers to purchase big-ticket items. Still, Avid said it will try to recover in the last quarter by introducing new brands, as it also hopes the economy stabilizes in the months to come.
“While the government is looking at various countermeasures to high inflation, inflation in September elevated at 6.7 percent after [typhoon] Ompong caused P26.7 billion damage. The faster rate of increase in the commodity prices prompted the Central Bank to hike interest by a total of 150 basis points,” Avid said.
“This, coupled with food and other basic needs as the consumers’ priority, and high inflation are reasons for the household’s less favorable outlook on their buying conditions across all big-ticket items. Nevertheless, Avid will continue to offer innovative products and services with the customers in mind, amid its expectation that both supply and demand factors will stabilize,” it added.