Car importers report 12% slump in September sales
The Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. (Avid) saw a 12-percent year-on-year drop in sales last September after selling nearly 4,950 units, according to latest available data released by the group of automobile importers.
Avid said it sold 4,946 units in September this year, which was a 26-percent improvement from the previous month, albeit still lower than its September 2020 sales. Avid did not comment when asked for the reason behind the decline.
In total, the group had sold 43,957 units in the first three quarters of the year, marking a 26-percent increase from the 9-month period in 2020.
“We have weathered the volatile market conditions of the third quarter. With improving health conditions and a more stable outlook, Avid is optimistic and driven to wind up this last quarter on a strong note,” Avid president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said in a statement.
Sales of light commercial vehicles grew by 37 percent in the first three quarters, reaching 31,444 units. This helped offset the 1-percent slide in passenger car sales, which hit just 11,596 units during the 9-month period. Commercial vehicles, sold only by two member companies, reached 917 units, a 311-percent increase from the comparative period in 2020.
The direction of Avid’s figures was similar to that of the data reported by truck and carmakers, which saw September sales decline by more than 12 percent versus the same month a year ago, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).
Together, Campi and TMA account for a huge chunk of the domestic auto industry. Their total sales in the first three quarters had reached 191,605 units, registering a 29.5-percent increase from the 148,012 units sold at end-September last year.
Campi president Rommel Gutierrez earlier said the industry was targeting to sell 295,400 units for the entire 2021, a 20.9-percent increase from the actual sales in 2020, the first year under the COVID-19 pandemic.
