Growth of vehicle sales slowed on supply constraints and seasonality in August, the so-called ghost month.
A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association showed growth slowed to 2.44 percent from January to August to 235,544 units from 229,941 units in the same period in 2018. This is compared to the 13 percent registered as of endJuly.
The decline in the 8-month period came after August sales fell 7 percent to 9,599 units from 31,810 in July and by 2.4 percent from 30,313 units in August last year.
Commercial vehicle sales remained strong, growing 4 percent to 164,948 units from 158,304 units a year ago. Passenger car sales fell 1.5 percent to 70,596 units from 71,637 units last year.
“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 Rommel Gutierrez, CAMPI president.
“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 sad 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,” he said.
Toyota continued to lead all brands to 100,657 units or 42.7 percent market share followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines, 41,034 units or 17 percent of total and; Nissan Philippines Inc., 28,212 units or 12 percent.
