Vehicle sales fell 11.8 percent in January due to the delay in deliveries and closure of some dealerships following the eruption of Taal Volcano last January 12.
But the Industry is “brimming with optimism” that a recovery is underway in the coming months now that operations are back on track.
A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association released yesterday showed vehicle sales last month reached 23,723 units from the 26,888 units sold in the same month last year.
On a month-on-month basis, the decline was heftier at 29.6 percent coming from a sales surge in December 2019 when the industry sold 33,715 units.
This has been the industry’s consistent seasonal pattern for the past years, CAMPI said.
Rommel Gutierrez, CAMPI president, said the industry had expected the slowdown mainly due to the adverse effect of the recent Taal Volcano eruption.
“Majority of plants and some dealerships located in South Luzon were badly hit by ash fall, also affecting operations in some areas of Metro Manila. Some companies were also forced to temporarily suspend its operations for safety reasons,” said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez said the industry is expected to work double time to catch-up on last month’s losses.
“We assure our customers the highest level of quality in our products and services because safety and consumer satisfaction are our priorities,” he said.
Sales of passenger cars in January were down 23 percent to 6,543 units from 8,487 units in the same month in 2019 and by 29.6 percent from 9,246 units sold in December.
Sales of commercial vehicles suffered a drastic 30 percent decline month-on-month to 17,180 units from 24,469 units in December although this is just a 6.6 percent drop from January 2019 sales of 8,487 units.
Sales of light trucks dropped 28.7 percent to 365 from 512 last year while sales of trucks and buses under Category IV declined 30 percent to 233 from 332.
Across all categories, only sales of Asian utility vehicles and trucks and buses under Category V registered growth of 2.9 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
Market leader Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. sold 8,890 units, down 21 percent while Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. sold 5,011 units, down 2 percent. Both closed their Sta. Rosa, Laguna factories for two days following the Taal Volcano eruption.
