Car sales dipped in August but auto industry players remain optimistic purchases will pick up in the coming months.
Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) showed sales in the past eight months are 1.3 percent lower than the sales in the same period last year.
Despite a lackluster performance in August, the local auto industry continued to trim the decline in sales contraction from -3.7 percent in May--the widest gap compared with 2008 figures.
"We are thankful sales improved though slightly in terms of year to date figures. The industry remains positive and is banking on continued and stronger OFW remittances which will spur consumption coupled with auto loans seen to grow as well in the coming months," CAMPI president Elizabeth H. Lee said.
Month-on-month decline
With only 10,575 units sold in August, month-on-month sales were down 8.8 percent after the industry posted a 12-month high in sales volume in July.
Commercial vehicles continued to dominate the market with a 64 percent share, while the rest of the purchased vehicles last month were passenger cars.
Toyota Motor Philippines kept its reign on the top spot with 3,530 units sold in August. It was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines with 1,804 units and Honda Cars Philippines with 1,368 units.
CAMPI said the industry has to sell an average of 10,730 units every month until the end of the year to reach its flat performance target for 2009.
A total of 124,449 units were sold in the Philippine automotive industry in 2008.
| PHILIPPINE AUTO INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE as of AUGUST 2009 | |||||
| Ranking | Car Company | January to August 2009 | January to August 2008 | Percentage Change | Current market share |
| 12 | Asian Carmakers Corp. | 332 | 503 | -34.0% | 0.6% |
| 8 | Columbian Autocar Corp. | 2,246 | 2961 | -24.1% | 3.6% |
| 13 | Columbian Motors Corp. | 197 | 214 | -7.9% | 0.3% |
| 17 | Dreamco | 85 | 36 | 136.1% | 0.0% |
| 6 | Ford Motor Company Philippines (+Mazda) | 4,792 | 5160 | -7.1% | 6.2% |
| 11 | General Motors Automobiles Philippines, Inc. | 980 | 1739 | -43.6% | 2.1% |
| 3 | Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. | 11,559 | 9817 | 17.7% | 11.8% |
| 4 | Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. | 6,782 | 7197 | -5.8% | 8.7% |
| 5 | Isuzu Philippines Corp. | 5,512 | 7015 | -21.4% | 8.4% |
| 18 | MAN Automotive Concessionaires Corp. | 7 | 12 | -41.7% | 0.0% |
| 2 | Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. | 14,763 | 11144 | 32.5% | 13.4% |
| 10 | Nissan Motor Philippines, Inc. | 1,331 | 2032 | -34.5% | 2.4% |
| 15 | PGA Cars, Inc. | 188 | 153 | 22.9% | 0.2% |
| 14 | Pilipinas Hino, Inc. | 191 | 250 | -23.6% | 0.3% |
| 16 | Scandinavian Motors Corp. (Volvo) | 177 | 171 | 3.5% | 0.2% |
| 9 | Suzuki Philippines, Inc. | 1,629 | 1436 | 13.4% | 1.7% |
| 1 | Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. | 28,076 | 30073 | -6.6% | 36.1% |
| 7 | Universal Motors Corp. | 3,234 | 3283 | -1.5% | 3.9% |
