Automotive sales declined 2.4 percent in August to 29,599 units from 30,313 units a year ago, two industry groups said Thursday.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association said in a joint report the August sales also dropped by 7 percent from 31,810 units in July.
“Supply constraints and the run out of outgoing models of some brands have hampered the industry’s rate of recovery in August. Together with that, the reality of the seasonal trends in the industry continue to hold true despite the boosted sales and marketing campaigns during the off-peak month of August,” said CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez.
August is traditionally considered a ghost month when most automotive companies expect flat if not lower sales.
“Traditionally, August has been a challenging month for the industry. However, we expect a positive turnaround this September until the last quarter of the year as the industry introduces new car models along with more innovative and value-laden offers for car buyers,” Gutierrez said.
Passenger car sales rose 1.2 percent in August to 8,781 units from 8,678 units in the same month last year. The figure, however, was down 6.6 percent from 9,397 units in July.
Sales of commercial vehicles went down by 3.8 percent in August 2019 to 20,818 units from 21,635 units in August 2018 and by 7.1 percent from 19,397 units in July.
Data showed that despite the slower sales in August, total vehicle sales in the first eight months increased 2.4 percent to 235,544 units from 229,941 units in the same period last year.
Passenger car sales from January to August went down by 1.5 percent to 70,596 units from 71,637 units in the same period in 2019 while commercial vehicle sales increased by 4.2 percent to 164,948 units from 158,304 units.
Toyota Motor Corp. led the market with 40.31-percent market share while Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. had 16.89 percent.
Nissan Philippines Inc. placed third with 14.78-percent share followed by Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. with 8 percent and Suzuki Philippines Inc. with 5.7 percent.
“CAMPI will continue to push for sustainable sales efforts to headline our recovery from last year’s numbers. Our target of 410,000 units remains to be a highly achievable goal for the industry and we expect the road to recovery to continue until the end of the year,” Gutierrez said.