Car sales slump 14.8% in 1st half

The economic slowdown has taken its toll on the local automotive industry which suffered an overall 14.8 percent decline in sales for the first half of this year.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said only 35,379 vehicles were sold in the country from January to June, down by 6,144 from the 41,523 units sold during the same period last year.

Sales of passenger cars showed the biggest decline at 27.6 percent, dropping from 15,264 units last year to 11,050 this year.

The sales of commercial vehicles like buses and trucks, on the other hand, declined only by 7.3 percent, from 26,259 to 24,329 units.

CAMPI figures also showed Toyota Motors Phiippines retaining its No. 1 position in total sales. Banking on its bestselling Revo utility vehicle, Toyota was able to sell a total of 8,652 units for the first half of this year.

Toyota was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines and by Honda Cars Philippines in total vehicle sales. Mitsubishi sold 7,473 units from January to June while Honda, which still leads in passenger car sales, sold 4,929 units for the same period.

Isuzu Philippines Corp., which does not make cars, was fourth in the ranking with 4,171 vehicles sold. It was followed by Nissan Motors Philippines which sold a total 4,002 passenger cars and commercial vehicles and lastly by Ford Group Philippines with 2,738 sold units.

CAMPI officials believe that if sales of motor vehicles would continue to decline, the local industry would not be able to hit its target of selling 80,000 units this year.

However, they remain optimistic that some improvement would be seen in the economy as the country’s political situation stabilizes.