Vehicle sales down in Q1; auto sector confident of recovery

Vehicle sales dropped by 9.9 percent in the first quarter to 32,608 units from 36,184 in the same period last year, although the automotive sector remains confident that it is on track to a full recovery this year.

Rommel Gutierrez, president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi), said in a briefing Thursday that the umbrella group expects a recovery this year due to the more stable supply of vehicles as production in Thailand has begun to normalize, as well as the introduction of new models.

Gutierrez said Campi was looking to even surpass the target vehicle sales this year of 154,000 units, based on the monthly performance of the automotive sector.

“We need to revisit our projection of 154,000 units. It could be higher. We are looking to release our new projections, the latest by May this year. We can already see some stability in supply this year,” Gutierrez added.

Based on the joint report by Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), sales for March alone reached 13,631 units, up 27.6 percent compared to the previous month’s sales of 10,681 units.

According to the report, sales of passenger cars in the January-March 2012 period dropped by 22 percent to 9,640 units compared to the 12,356 units sold during the same period last year.

Compared to the previous month, March sales of passenger cars rose by 40.7 percent to 4,341 units, given Honda Cars’ continued recovery.

Sales of commercial vehicles (CV) similarly fell by 3.6 percent in the first quarter of the year to 22,968 units from the previous year’s 23,828 units.

For March alone, sales of CV rose by 22.3 percent to 9,290 units from the previous month’s 7,596 units.

Of the commercial vehicles, sales of Asian Utility Vehicles increased by 11.2 percent year-on-year to 9,223 units from 8,293 units.

Sales of light commercial vehicles declined by 12.2 percent to 12,925 units in the first three months of the year from a year-ago level of 14,721 units, while sales of light trucks similarly rose by 13.8 percent to 543 units in the same period from the previous year’s 477 units.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. maintained its top spot in the industry, as its sales as of end-March this year reached 12,645 units, cornering a market share of 38.78 percent.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. came second, with sales reaching 8,230 units during the same period, and grabbing a 25.24-percent market share.

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