Vehicle sales continue to drop, but rate slowing

Vehicle sales dropped 9.2 percent in October to 33,150 units from 36,511 units in the same month last year, the slowest year-on-year decline in recent months.

This was according to the joint data of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released on Tuesday.

In the first 10 months of the year, sales dropped 13.3 percent to 294,207 units, as opposed to the 339,380 units sold in the same period last year.

In a previous interview, Campi president Rommel Gutierrez said the industry might see a 15-percent drop in sales this year.

If so, that will mark the industry’s worst sales decline since the financial crisis in 1998.

The months-long decline was attributed to a number of factors, including the Duterte administration’s first tax reform package that made most cars more expensive due to higher excise tax rates.

For the month of October alone, passenger cars fell 19.2 percent to 9,444 units from 11,686 units in the same month last year.

In the first 10 months, this segment dropped 20.1 percent to 90,522 units from 113,341 units previously.