Auto industry sales decline in August

MANILA – Stricter community quarantine restrictions imposed in August has pulled down auto sales downward.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported Friday that vehicle sales in August 2021 declined by 11.5 percent year-on-year and 26.3 percent month-on-month.

Combined sales of the industry groups last month reached 15,847 units, lower than the 17,906 units sold in August last year and 21,498 units sold in July this year.

“The message of this bleak performance is worth noting: stricter lockdown strategy in response to curbing the Covid-19 pandemic affects the auto industry’s recovery this year,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement.

The industry targets 20.9 percent growth this year to 295,400 units compared to 2020 sales.

Meanwhile, year-to-date sales of local vehicle assemblers still posted a 37.8 percent increase to 170,112 units this year from 123,489 units in January to August last year.

For the same period, sales of passenger cars increased by 53.1 percent to 54,402 units this year from 35,523 units in 2020.

Commercial vehicle sales, on the other hand, went up by 31.5 percent to 115,710 units in the first nine months of the year from 87,966 units in the same period last year.