Sales of vehicle importers down 51%

The Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. saw its volume sales drop by more than half as of July, selling only 24,607 new units as the pandemic continues to hurt demand.

Sales fell 50.9 percent from 50,051 units in the same seven-month period in 2019.

“Given that we have already bottomed out in the first semester, we believe the second half of the year will be better assuming there are no further lockdowns past Aug. 18,” said AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo in a statement.

“We understand the government’s decision to shift back to MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine). We anticipated such scenarios and are therefore prepared to adapt and respond, keeping in mind the needs and safety of our customers,” she said.

“Our focus now is to win back consumer confidence and give them the best value during these pandemic times,” she added.

Fellow industry groups Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) also recently reported continued declines in their sales.

According to Campi, total volume sales reached 105,583 units in the first seven months of the year, a 48.7 percent drop from the 205,945 units sold in the comparative period in 2019.

Campi, which represents a bigger bulk of the automotive industry in the country, feared that the pandemic might hurt the industry in other ways too.

“This volume reduction can have serious operational and financial impact on the automotive industry. We have submitted some recommendations for industry support, which are now under study by the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry],” said Campi president Rommel Gutierrez in a previous statement.

“The industry is doing all it can to sustainably provide sales promotions to encourage customers amid another stricter community quarantine for this month,” he added.