Vehicle sales dropped in January-April

Vehicle sales fell by 6.4 percent to 44,912 units in the first four months of the year, from 47,963 units a year ago, due to the unavailability of certain models and the shorter selling period in April.

Based on the joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), sales in April alone declined by 9.7 percent to 12,304 units from 13,631 units a year ago.

Sales of passenger cars in January to April 2012 fell by 17.6 percent to 13,342 units from 16,201 units in the same period last year. Compared to March, April sales of passenger cars were also lower by 14.7 percent to 3,702 units.

Sales of commercial vehicles also fell by 0.6 percent in the first four months to 31,570 units from the previous year’s 31,762 units. For April alone, sales of CV also declined by 7.4 percent to 8,602 units from 9,290 units in the previous month.

Of the commercial vehicles, sales of Asian Utility Vehicles posted an increase of 10.2 percent year on year to 12,472 units from 11,317 units, attributed mainly to the “good market acceptance” of the new models of Toyota Motor Corp.’s Innova and Avanza.

Sales of light commercial vehicles, however, declined by 7.2 percent to 18,041 units in the first four months of the year from 19,446 units a year ago, while sales of light trucks rose by 12.7 percent.—Amy R. Remo