Auto sales slacken 4.4% in August but post 16.7% growth in 8 months

sales this year.

The sustained performance in this segment is largely attributed to the Accent which grew by 14 percent from 1,212 units in August 2016 to 1,383 units in August 2017.

Meanwhile, the light commercial vehicles (LCV) segment posted a remarkable 62 percent growth in sales with 1,151 units. Credit goes to the H-100 which grew by 238 percent from 141 units last August 2016 to 477 units

Motor vehicle sales in August dropped by 4.4 percent against sales in July as sales from 13 car firms posted declines although the January-August performance registered a positive 16.7 percent growth over the same period last year, a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed.

CAMPI President Rommel Gutierunit rez attributed the decline to the historical lean month of August, which businesses considered a “ghost” month.

Data showed that sales in August reached only 35,309 units or 4.4 percent down from 36,951 units in July although higher by 8.7 percent when compared against 32,472 units sold in August, 2016.

Of this figure, passenger cars declined by 11.4 percent with sales of 11,258 units from 12,701 units in July while sales of commercial vehicles also dropped a slight 0.8 percent to 24,051 units from 24,250 units in July.

In terms of category, the Asian utility vehicles also declined by 11.6 percent with sales of only 6,864 units from 7,784 units in July. Likewise, sales of trucks and buses (Category IV) went down by 3.3 percent to 404 units from 418 units.

Overall sales in January-August reached 268,424 units or 16.7 percent higher than 229,919 units of which the passenger cars contributed 91,139 units while the commercial vehicles with 177,285 units. All vehicle categories posted positive growth for the first 8 months of the year.

Of the 23 members of CAMPI-TMA members, 14 reported declines for the month of August with Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., the country’s largest car firm, having sold 17,080 units for a negative growth of 8.9 percent and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines with 6,318 units sold or 4.3 percent lower than the 6,600 unit sales in the previous month.

Meantime, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) reported a sustained growth momentum with 17 percent increase in sales in August.

HARI reported that it sold 3,273 units in August this year, a 17 percent year-on-year growth from 2,798 units in 2016. This propelled January to August yearto-date sales to 24,233 units – a growth of 9 percent from last year’s sales of 22,134 units.

Sustained consumer appetite for HARI’s full model lineup and developments in product availability contributed to the company’s auspicious performance.

Accounting for nearly two-thirds of HARI’s total sales volume, the passenger cars segment grew by 2 percent from 2,087 unit sales in August 2016 to 2,122 this August 2017.

“HARI continues to test its limits, finding new ways of enriching customer experience across all touchpoints of our operations. We take pride in understanding our customer’s desire and creating value through innovative experiences. Through this, we hold true to our vision of becoming the most beloved lifetime partner of the Filipino people,” said Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo, HARI President and CEO.