CAMPI president lawyer Rommel Gutierrez
Parts supply disruptions from late last year’s floods in Thailand continued to hound the industry as the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported a 15.7 percent drop in sales when compared to the same period last year.
From January to February of this year, the auto industry sold a total of 18,977 vehicles, 3,541 fewer than what were sold in the first two months of 2011.
This development should raise a red flag considering that in the same period last year, the auto industry grew by 5.8 percent after selling 22,518 vehicles.
Campi attributed its low January to February 2012 sales to shortage of stock by major players to supply demand brought about by the Thailand flooding, the same factor that has also plagued the worldwide trend of car sales.
Campi president Rommel Gutierrez, also the vice president of Toyota Motor Philippines, said the expected recovery this year would be driven mainly by stable supply, new models and more aggressive sales efforts by the industry players.
32.5-percent decline
According to the report, sales of passenger cars from January to February 2012 registered a 32.5-percent decline (5,299 units from 7,856 units in the same period last year) while sales of commercial vehicles fell by 6.7 percent in the first two months of the year (13,678 units from the previous year’s 14,662 units).
Amidst this not-so-good development, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. maintained sales leadership after selling 7,255 units as of end-February, capturing 38.23 percent share of the market.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. is not far behind, capturing the second-biggest market share—26.67 percent—for selling 5,062 units.
On the third, fourth and fifth spots were Isuzu Philippines Corp. (IPC); Columbian Autocar Corp. (CAC), which supplies the Kia brand; and Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc., which handles both the Ford and Mazda brands.
Continuing supply issue
The continuing supply issue in Thailand mainly affected the sales of both Ford Motor Philippines and Honda Cars Philippines Inc.
Ford suffered a 47 percent drop in sales in January because the company’s three best-selling models in the Philippines—the Ford Fiesta, Ford Ranger and Ford Everest—are all built at the company’s Auto Alliance Thailand, which was forced to halt production in the last months of 2011.
Citing the same flood problem in Thailand, Honda Cars’ sales fell 74 percent in the Philippines. Honda is one of the hardest hit among the major brands by the Thailand floods.
37-percent growth
In a separate report, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID) reported a sales growth of 37 percent in January 2012, selling 2,526 units as compared to the 1,839 units sold in January 2011.
AVID attributed the positive growth to the 71-percent increment in passenger car sales.
Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., importer and distributor of Hyundai vehicles, contributed much to this sales growth after posting a 40 percent growth in January, selling a total of 2,153 units.
The Covenant Car Co. Inc., distributor of Chevrolet GM vehicles in the Philippines, sold 254 units; Cats Motors, distributor of Mercedes Benz, reported 60; PGA Cars, which sells Porsche and Audi, 26; Scandinavian Motors, authorized Volvo distributor in the Philippines, 18; and British United, official distributor of MINI cars in the Philippines, 16.