Vehicle importers saw sales rise by 15% in 1st 7 months

Local vehicle importers and distributors continued its strong performance in the first seven months of the year as sales grew by 15 percent to 20,938 units during the period, from the 18,147 units sold a year ago.

For July alone, members of the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (Avid) posted a more modest 8 percent growth in sales to 3,036 units from the 2,802 units sold in the same month last year.

“Avid entered the second half of the year headstrong with an upbeat sales performance for the month of July. Sustained economic growth continues to sway in favor of Avid’s sales expectations by yearend,” Avid president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said in a statement yesterday.

Data from Avid showed that, in July alone, the growth in vehicle sales was led mainly by the passenger car segment, which registered an 18-percent increase to 1,591 units.

This increase can be attributed to the resilient performances from Hyundai, Subaru and Mini, which was reported to be the fastest growing brand in the passenger car segment with a 120-percent surge in year-on-year July sales.

Light commercial vehicle sales for July however slipped by 1 percent to 1,445 units.

For the January to July period, Avid members saw a 16-percent increase in sales of passenger cars and a 15-percent rise in sales of light commercial vehicles.

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari) remained Avid’s top seller in the first seven months of the year, with sales hitting 13,603 units.

Chevrolet distributor The Covenant Car Co. Inc. was the group’s second strongest performer with sales reaching 4,795 units, during the same period.

Other Avid members included Motor Image Pilipinas Inc. (which sold 1,776 units from January to July); Mercedes Benz importer CATS Motors (430 units); Porsche and Audi distributor PGA Cars Inc. (161 units); Mini distributor British United Automobiles (104 units); and Volvo importer Scandinavian Motors Corp. (69 units).