Vehicle sales continue to slump in Nov.
VEHICLE sales dropped by 23% year-on-year in November, according to the joint report issued by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).
Data from CAMPI-TMA showed its member-companies sold a total of 31,258 units last month, lower than the 40,799 units sold in November 2017.
Month-on-month, vehicle sales fell by 5.7% from 33,150 units sold in October 2018.
Despite the negative numbers, CAMPI President Rommel R. Gutierrez said in a statement: “We remain confident that the industry will continue to recover as the year ends.”
Auto industry sales plunged this year with the implementation of the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law last January.
The law increased excise taxes on vehicles, with those costing P600,000 and below being taxed 4%, up from 2%. The tax on cars priced between P600,000 and P1 million was adjusted to 10%, from the previous charge of P12,000 plus 20% of the amount in excess of P600,000.
For the 11-month period, the industry saw a 14% decline in vehicle sales to 325,465 from 380,179 units a year ago.
Across vehicle categories, sales slipped by double-digits in November versus the same month in 2017.
During November, passenger car sales fell by 22.7% to 9,197 units, while commercial vehicle sales went down by 23.7% to 22,061 units. Sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) dipped 13.5% to 17,594, while Asian utility vehicles (AUV) sales plunged 54% to 3,142 units.
For the January to November period, sales of passenger cars reached 99,719, 20.4% lower than the same period in 2017. Commercial vehicle sales declined by 11.5% to 225,746, while AUV sales dropped 39% to 44,732 units.
LCV sales showed positive growth at 1% to 167,467 units during the 11-month period.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. continued to dominate with a 42.55% market share, after selling 138,476 units during the January to November period.
Rounding out the top five were Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. with a market share of 19%, Nissan Philippines, Inc. with 9.7%, Ford Motor Company Philippines, Inc. with 6.6% and Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. with 6.5%.