The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) said the double-digit decline in vehicle sales last August is a ‘temporary setback’ and that the auto industry’s performance will return to positive territory in the succeeding months.
Data from Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that their member brands sold 29,611 vehicles in August, down from 37,319 units in July and from the 36,714 units recorded a year ago.
In January to August, Campi-TMA member brands sold 271,336 vehicles lower than the 305,381 units in the same period last year.
For the entire industry, estimated year-to-date sales reached 300,550 units as of August, Campi said.
‘We’re still optimistic that vehicle sales will bounce back over the next few months through yearend,’ Campi President Jose Maria Atienza said, noting that demand should recover as operating conditions normalize.
The decline was broad-based across vehicle categories, based on industry data. Passenger-car sales fell 10.3 percent to 55,030 units from 61,358 units a year earlier, giving the segment a 20.09-percent share of total industry sales.
Commercial vehicles, which accounted for 79.91 percent of the market, declined 11.4 percent to 216,306 units from 244,023 units.
Asian utility vehicles and multipurpose vehicles, both within the commercial-vehicle segment, fell 10.6 percent to 48,515 units from 54,292 units.
Light commercial vehicles slid by 11.3 percent to 161,676 units from 182,240 units. Campi-TMA figures also showed that light-duty trucks and buses declined by 16.4 percent to 3,765 units from 4,503 units, while medium-duty trucks and buses dropped 14.4 percent to 1,967 units from 2,298 units.
Heavy-duty trucks and buses recorded the steepest decline, with sales plunging 44.5 percent to 383 units from 690 units a year earlier.
Among Campi-TMA member brands, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. led the pack in August with 14,594 units, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 3,570 units and Suzuki Phils. Inc. with 1,350 units.
EV sales
Data from Campi-TMA also showed that electric vehicles (xEVs) accounted for 34.5 percent of the market in August, bigger than their share in the same month last year and second only to April’s 37.2-percent peak.
Sales of electric vehicles, covering battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), reached 45,403 units during the eigh-month period, up 146.2 percent from 18,439 units a year earlier.
Their share of total industry sales more than doubled to 16.73 percent from 6.04 percent.
In August alone, 7,066 xEVs were sold or 214.9 percent higher than last year’s 2,244. However, this was 0.3 percent below July’s 7,089 units.
‘The continued growth in xEV adoption highlights the strong potential of the market,’ Atienza said.
HEVs remained the largest xEV segment in the eight-month period, with sales rising 62.9 percent to 23,764 units from 14,585 units. BEV sales jumped 293 percent to 12,883 units from 3,278 units, while PHEV sales soared to 8,756 units from just 576 units.
In August, HEVs accounted for 42.46 percent of xEV sales, followed by BEVs at 34.66 percent and PHEVs at 22.88 percent.
The figures cover BEVs, HEVs and PHEVs recognized by the Department of Energy as of September 8.