Auto Sales Jump 3.7% for First 11 Months of 2009
Sales of motor vehicles jumped 3.7 percent for the first 11 months of the year despite a flat performance in November from October.
Sales for January to November reached 118,848 units for the year, inching close to its target of 125,000 units with just a month to go.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) revised its forecast from flat growth to a 2.3-percent growth for the year.
“It certainly looks like the automotive industry will hit, if not exceed its target. This is a positive outcome from the flat growth previously forecast at the beginning of the year,” said Campi president Elizabeth Lee.
Lee attributed the strong sales to faster turnover of replacement vehicles due to the typhoons as well as strong remittances from overseas Filipinos which spur consumption and vehicle purchases coupled with aggressive promotions and support from banks for easy and low payment terms.
“Buyers get to take advantage of the promotions and strong support from auto players as well as banks most especially for those seeking to replace their flood damaged vehicles,” Lee said.
Lee also said that despite the recent bad news on Dubai which was feared to have a great impact on remittance, reports show that remittances will continue to be strong and will not be affected much.
“We are keen on tracking the health of remittances as this is a major factor in consumption where the automotive industry is a key beneficiary,” Lee said. “
Lee said the industry is upbeat going into 2010 with an official forecast of 4 percent growth or about 132,000 unit sales.
In November, sales reached 12,702 units, slightly lower from 12,761 units in October but an improvement of 29.5 percent from November in 2008.
Sales of commercial vehicles which accounted for 64 percent of total stood at 77,111 units or up 5.3 percent from 73,230 units last year.
Sales of passenger cars grew a percent to 41,737 units from 41,334 units in 2008.
Light commercial vehicles showed much strength with a double-digit growth of 13.9 percent, selling a total of 47,383 vehicles composed of the popular vans, pick up trucks, and compact wagons from 41,611 units last year. Lee said sales of the segment were pushed for fleet deliveries to the national and local government as well.
Sales of Asian utility vehicles were down 7.1 percent to 26,942 units from 28,994 units in 2008.
Light truck sales were flat at 1,703 units from 1,702 last year. Sales of trucks and buses improved 17.4 percent to 1,084 units from 923 units a year ago.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. led all assemblers with sales of 41,293 units but this is down 1.7 percent from 41,997 units in 2008.
By Irma Isip, Business Insight Malaya
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