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By Ben Arnold de Vera, Researcher
THE unabated rise in gasoline prices finally
took its toll on motor vehicle purchases, with local assemblers
reporting a decline in sales last month.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the
Philippines Inc. (Campi) said Tuesday that June sales fell 1.2
percent to 10,772 units from the 10,900 sold in May.
Besides costlier fuel, the industry group blamed
the contraction on Typhoon Frank, which disrupted the operations of
many provincial dealerships.
Despite the June slide, six-month sales were
still up 13.6 percent year-on-year at 61,654 units from the 54,257
units sold in the same period last year. Sales so far reached 49.13
percent of the industry’s target of 125,500 units for the whole
year.
Passenger cars bucked the industry trend with
year-on-year and month-on-month growth of 10.9 percent and 4.9
percent, respectively, indicating consumers’ shift to more
fuel-efficient compact units. Campi attributed the positive growth
to new model introductions, supply stability, fleet deliveries and
competitive pricing. A total of 21,003 passenger cars have been sold
in the first half of this year.
Commercial vehicles still accounted for the bulk
of the market with a 15.1-percent growth year-on-year to 40,651
units, although sales contracted 4.2 percent month-on-month.
Asian utility vehicle sales increased 9.9
percent year-on-year and 3.3 percent month-on-month.
Light commercial vehicle sales fell 8.8 percent
month-on-month, but grew 20.6 percent year-on-year. Compact wagons
and full sports utility vehicles suffered the brunt of the decline
in sales last month, along with light trucks, sales of which fell
month-on-month and year-on-year by 15.5-percent and 7.8-percent,
respectively.
Deferred purchases of most trucks and buses also
resulted in a 28-percent decline in sales of these vehicles
month-on-month. Year-on-year, sales, however, were up nine percent.
Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. sustained its
lead, with year-to-date sales of 22,209 units, followed by
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Inc. with 8,365 cars, and Honda Cars
Philippines Inc., which sold 7,679 units.
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