PH car distributors’ first-half sales performance nearly flat

MOTIONCARS FILE PHOTO

SALES made by the country’s auto distributors were nearly flat in the first six months of the year when these are compared against the same period in 2018.

The Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID) reported on Monday via a news release sent to journalists that its member companies sold 43,333 units from January to June this year, a 1% increase from the group’s result of 43,084 units for the same period last year.

The slight uptick came on the back of the steady performance of light commercial vehicle (LCV) and commercial vehicle (CV) models. LCVs posted a 4% increase during the same six-month stretch, with deliveries this year reaching 27,331 units against last year’s 26,370-unit tally. Sales of CVs totaled to 666 units this year, 1% more than the 661 units sold last year.

AVID’s sales of passenger cars dipped 4% in the first half of 2019 with 15,336 units sold compared to the 16,053-unit total from January to June last year.

AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo, also president of Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc., noted in the news release that the group’s performance came against an economic slowdown in the first quarter of 2019.

“We believe that this slowdown is temporary since the Philippines is now on a higher growth path and is a leading economy in the ASEAN. Given these, we will continue to introduce exciting models and innovative services to give consumers more value for their money,” she said.

Hyundai continued to be the top-seller among AVID companies, with the brand’s first-half total of 17,654 units accounting for nearly 41% of the group’s sales for the period.

AVID reports its members’ sales performance separately from other domestic auto industry groups, namely the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association. Members of the two manufacturers’ groups jointly disclosed last week they sold 174,135 vehicles from January to June, a 1.5% nudge from the 171,635 vehicles delivered during the same six months in 2018.