Sales of imported passenger vehicles up by 6% in Aug.

MANILA: The overall sales of imported vehicles went down by 7% in August from July 2020, registering only 4,753 units compared to 5,100 the previous month.

According to the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID), this was caused by the return of Metro Manila to MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) last month.

Broken down into segments, passenger car sales actually went up by 6% along with commercial vehicles at 95%. Only light commercial vehicles sales showed negative growth with a drop of 14%.

Light commercial vehicle sales went down to 2,851 units last month from 3,317 units this segment sold in July. Passenger sales, on the other hand, increased to 1,865 units and commercial vehicles sold 37 units in August.

The increase in commercial vehicle sales can be attributed to the continuation of the “Build, Build, Build” program and the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program of the government.

 “There are encouraging indicators of a sustained recovery for auto with the gradual reopening of businesses. Still, we remain vigilant since a key aspect of the industry’s revival is the restoration of consumer confidence through strict health and safety guidelines and rapid digital transformation. These ensure the well-being of our stakeholders, continuity of operations, and preservation of livelihood,” said AVID President Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

 For the first eight months of 2020, only 29,630 imported vehicles were sold. That’s a 48.7% drop compared to the first eight months of 2019 when 57,2020 units were sold.

Comparing the same period by segments, passenger car sales declined by 51% to 9,755 units, light commercial vehicle sales down by 46.8% to 19,412 units, and commercial vehicle sales decreased by 70% to 193 units.

Photo from the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors

Also read: AVID sales shoot up by 198% in June