November vehicle sales suffer huge drop

MANILA, Philippines – Vehicle sales dropped 23.4 percent in November, the largest decline in the past few months as even the holiday season couldn’t cheer up the gloomy consumer appetite.

Official data showed vehicle sales plunged to 31,258 units in November this year from the 40,799 units sold in the same month last year.

The latest figures brought sales since January to 325,465 units, a 14.4 percent drop from the same 11-month period last year that recorded 380,179 units sold.

This is according to joint data of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released Thursday.

While Campi did not give any explanation behind the continued drop in sales, the group has previously attributed the decline to higher excise taxes on top of inflation.

Comparing this with previous sales reports, November marked the largest year-on-year decline since July, back when the year-on-year drop was 24.1 percent.

This also stopped the trend that started in August, wherein the year-on-year decline slowed, giving signs that the industry might be on its way to recovery.

“We remain confident that the industry will continue to recover as the year ends,” said CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez.

There were 9,197 units of passenger cars sold in November, a 22.7 percent drop in sales from the 11,901 units sold in the same month last year.

Year-to-date sales of this segment fell to 99,719 units, a 20.4 percent decline from the 125,242 sold in the same 11-month period last year.

Commercial vehicles, on the other hand, declined to 22,061 units, 23.7 percent lower than the 28,898 units sold in November 2017.

The segment, which accounts for more than 60 percent of overall sales since January, fell 11.5 percent year-to-date to 225,746 units from 254,937 units, previously.

In terms of market share, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remains the market leader with 42.55 percent market share despite a 16.9 percent drop in sales since January.

It is followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. with 19.05 percent, despite a 7-percent sales drop.

Nissan Philippines, Inc. came in at third with 9.7 percent market share, bucking the trend with a 42-percent growth in sales.  /kga – By: Roy Stephen C. Canivel