Sales of imported vehicles rose 43 percent in the first seven months to 35,092 units from 24,610 units in the same period in 2020, an industry group said Friday.
The Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. said the Philippine automotive industry was in the phase of gradual recovery.
“The gradual adaptation of the automotive industry to ‘now normal’ operations is mainly driven by the valuable lessons gathered and learned over the course of the period. These lessons fuel our passion for developing new and innovative ways to addressing the needs of the market. And AVID is determined to pave the way towards recovery,” said AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.
Data showed passenger car sales grew 15 percent from January to July to 9,110 units from 7,893 units a year ago, while those of light commercial vehicles increased 52 percent to 34,235 units from 24,451 units.
Suzuki led the LV segment with 4,559 units sold, followed by Hyundai with 2,979 units.
Commercial vehicle sales also surged 448 percent in the seven-month period to 855 units from 156 units a year earlier. Hyundai fueled the segment with healthy sales from trucks and buses. The brand is a huge contributor to nationwide efforts at modernizing public utility vehicles.
AVID said that on a month-on-month basis, sales declined by 2 percent to 4,862 units in July from 4,961 units in June. Passenger car sales dropped 5 percent to 1,293 units from 1,358 units.
Light commercial vehicle sales were also on a downtrend, contracting by 3 percent to 3,475 units in July from 3,573 units in June.