Vehicle sales fell by 4% in ‘11

Vehicle sales last year fell by 4 percent to 141,616 units from 147,488 units in 2010, due largely due to disruptions in the supply of vehicle units and automotive parts.

A joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that sales of all types of vehicles posted declines by the end of 2011.

For December 2011 alone, industry sales registered a 14.2-percent drop to 10,374 units from 12,090 units in the same month in 2010.

According to Campi, sales of passenger cars for 2011 registered an 8-percent decline to 44,862 units from the 48,739 in the previous year.

On a month-on-month basis, however, the local automotive industry posted a 22.7-percent sales increase to 3,073 units in December from 2,504 units in November 2011, due mainly to aggressive sales promotion activities of vehicle companies.

Sales of commercial vehicles (CV) fell by 2.02 percent in 2011 from year-ago level. CV sales in December alone also fell by 23.8 percent to 7,301 units from 9,586 units in the previous month due to supply limitation.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. maintained its top spot in the market, with its sales as of end-December reaching 54,593 units. This is equivalent to a market share of 38.55 percent.

Compared with 2010 levels, however, sales of Toyota vehicles registered a 4-percent decline.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. came second, with sales reaching 32,603 units during the same period, grabbing a 23.02-percent market share.

On the third, fourth and fifth spots were Ford Motor Co. Phils. Inc., Honda Cars Philippines Inc. and Isuzu Philippines Corp.

The local automotive industry has been adversely affected by the crisis in Japan and the flooding in Thailand, as both countries are major sources of vehicle units and automotive parts.

The earthquake and tsunami that struck certain parts of Japan in March last year resulted in the shutdown of vehicle assembly plants and auto parts factories.

But as the Japan situation started to ease in the second half of the year, Thailand was hit by the worst flood experienced by this country in at least 50 years. The flooding in Thailand further cut the supply of vehicles and auto parts to the Philippines.

“Floods have inundated several vehicle and parts manufacturing plants in Thailand, resulting in the shutdown of their operations,” Campi earlier said.