Sales of imported vehicles down

A group of vehicle importers saw a 3-percent dip in sales to 71,396 units in the first 10 months of the year, a slight deceleration from last year’s sales decline.

This is according to the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. (AVID), which said in a statement on Friday that it sold 7,320 units for the month of October alone.

Avid sales fell faster last year than the sales recorded by a group of automotive and truck manufacturers, although the importers only accounted for a relatively small slice of the entire market.

“Lower inflation, interest rates, and fuel prices coupled with increased consumer spending with the start of the holiday season could boost industry performance,” said AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

“Increased government spending on key infrastructure projects and the jeepney modernization program will further bolster demand,” she added.

Passenger car sales dropped 3 percent from January to October, with sales reaching 25,133 units.

Light commercial vehicles, meanwhile, dropped 4.3 percent to 45,536 units in the first 10 months of the year compared to the same period last year.

Only light commercial vehicles, which consisted solely of Hyundai units, grew as of October. In the first 10 months of the year, the segment sold 727 units, up by 87 percent from the same period in 2018.

Last year, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. and Truck Manufacturers Association saw their sales drop 16 percent, their worst decline since the 1998 financial crisis.