Car sales down for 3rd straight month

Automotive sales declined for the third straight month in October even as the consolidated figure for the first 10 months this year continues to show a big improvement over last year.

Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) show that 10-month industry sales went up from 60, 663 units last year to 71,977 units this year.

With the continuing popularity of sports utility vehicles (SUVs), commercial vehicles remain in the lead, with sales of 46,441 units sold from January to October this year, a 23-percent improvement over the 37,743 units sold over the same period last year.

According to CAMPI, commercial vehicles managed a small recovery from a decline in September, growing by 5.6 percent in October and 16.6 percent compared to last year.

Passenger car sales, on the other hand suffered an 11.6-percent decline in October as manufacturers increased their prices by as much as 15 percent. CAMPI reported that 2,252 passenger cars were sold in October compared to 2,548 units old in September. On a year-on-year basis, sales declined by 7.6 percent compared to the 2,438 units sold in October last year.

CAMPI secretary general Mario de Grano said cars sales were hit squarely by the increase in prices, spurred by increasing production costs due to the sharp fall of the peso against the dollar.

Consumers were also beginning to feel another tightening in car financing, which means a further decline in sales may be expected in the remaining months of the year.

This year, CAMPI has projected total automotive sales to reach 76,500 units. Automotive manufacturers, however, are set to increase their prices some more to keep up with the depreciation of the peso.

Based on current trends, CAMPI said the industry might be able to exceed the target by as much as 5,000 units by the end of the year.

Perennial market leader Toyota Motor continued to lead industry sales with 20,963 units from January to October this year followed by Mitsubishi Motor Phils. Corp. with 13,719 units sold. Honda Cars Philippines was third with 11,066 units old, followed by Izuzu Philippines Corp. which entered the top four with 6,535 units.

In the passenger car segment, Honda retained its lead during the period as it sold 8,555, followed by Toyota which sold a total of 5,500 units. In third was Nissan which sold 4,963 units followed by Ford which entered the top five for the first time with 1,872 units sold. CAMPI said the sales data indicate that the industry is beginning to recover in earnest after receiving a beating in the wake of the Asian currency crisis. – Des Ferriols