Monthly auto sales up 31.9% in July

Combined vehicle sales of Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) sold 20,542 units of vehicles in July 2020.

CAMPI and TMA sales in July are higher by 31.9 percent from previous month’s sales of 15,578 units.

Vehicle sales has recorded growth in sales for three straight months after community quarantine measures due to Covid-19 eased in May.

“It is understandable that achieving the industry’s average monthly pre-Covid-19 level remains elusive and a challenge at the same time amid this pandemic and the recent pronouncement of economic recession. But this month-on-month of nearly 32-percent growth is what the industry needs at this point to achieve its sales forecast of 240,000 units for this year,” CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement Friday.

Gutierrez added the target sales for this year is 41.5 percent lower than the total industry sales volume in 2019.

For CAMPI and TMA alone, combined sales in 2019 reached 369,941 units.

The group of car importers, on the other hand, sold 87,984 units last year.

“This volume reduction can have serious operational and financial impact on the automotive industry. We have submitted some recommendations for industry support, which are now under study by the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry),” the CAMPI chief added.

Moreover, sales of locally assembled vehicles from January to July 2020 decreased 48.7 percent with total sales of 105,583 units from 205,945 vehicles in the same period last year.

The decline in year-to-date sales in July has eased compared to the 51.2-percent drop in sales in the January to June period.

By segment, passenger cars sold in the first seven months of 2020 decreased by 51.4 percent to 30,069 units from 61,815 units in the same period in 2019.

Commercial vehicle sales also recorded a decrease of 47.6 percent with 75,514 units sold in January to July 2020 from 144,130 units sold in the same months last year.

Light commercial vehicles sold 56,854 units and Asian utility vehicles sold 14,810 units.

Sales of light trucks in the said period reached 2,043 units, while trucks and buses category four at 1,360 units and category five at 447 units. (PNA)