Sales of imported vehicles rose 9 percent in the first quarter of the year, boosted by March sales which doubled from the same month in 2020, the height of the lockdown.
In a report, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID) said members recorded sales of 15,857 units from January to March 2021 from 14,554 units in the same period last year.
The report said March sales went up by 95 percent to 5,193 units from 2,663 units in the same month last year.
Sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) accounted for 71 percent of total AVID sales; and jumped 13 percent to 11,198 units from 9,895 units sold last year. Ford continues to be the top contributor to this segment with 4,786 units sold followed by Suzuki, 2,628 units and Hyundai, 1,780 units .
Sales of commercial vehicles (CV) surged 354 percent, with 418 units sold versus 92 sold in 2020. The segment is led by Hyundai.
Passenger car (PC) sales, however, bucked the trend, declining 7 percent to 4,241 units sold compared with the 4,567 in the same period last year.
March 2021 sales rose 34 percent from 1,026 units sold in March 2020 to 1,372 units.
Suzuki was at the top spot with a total of 2,067 units, followed by Hyundai with 1,484 units sold since the start of the year.
AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said the slow uptick of PC sales is a result of continued low consumer confidence.
