Car sales continue to decelerate

CAR sales declined 3.3 percent in the first four month, with a total of 38,552 vehicles sold, and industry officials blamed the fall on the fewer selling days in April.

Sales in April, shortened by Lenten holidays, fell 9 percent year-on-year and 7.1 percent from March.

Elizabeth Lee, president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc., said the 3.3-percent sales decline was expected and compared favorably to other countries such as the United States, where sales fell 38 percent, or Japan, where sales dropped 24 percent during the same period.

Passenger car sales inched up 2 percent, while sales of commercial vehicles declined 6 percent.

Commercial vehicles still accounted for 64 percent of the total industry sales, with 24,756 units sold compared to 13,796 passenger cars sold.

“We will have to see how the industry fares in the next two to three months, and if there is enough reason to adjust our year-end forecasts,” Lee said.

“So far, the local industry is holding up a lot better than other markets.”

Lee said the favorable financing environment continued to support auto sales.

“Buyers still have access to financing and continue to buy, although buyers are becoming more discerning with greater price shopping, feature comparison, and value for money as key considerations for purchase amid the wide variety of vehicles being offered in the market,” Lee said.

She said sales could be spurred by the stiffer competition among car distributors in terms of promotions.

“Sales are expected to normalize in the next months,” Lee said.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. still dominated the market with 13,301 units sold from January to April this, cornering a market share of 34.5 percent. But its sales this year declined by 6.1 percent in terms of units compared to the 14,160 units sold in the same period last year.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. came in a far second with 6,745 units sold and a market share of 17.5 percent. But this year’s sales showed an increase of 26.2 percent over the same period last year.

Honda Cars Philippines Inc. was in third place with 5,876 units sold and a market share of 15.2 percent. This year’s sales showed an increase of 11.5 percent over the 5,269 units sold a year ago.

Korean brand Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. came in at no. 4 with 3,118 units sold and an 8.1-percent share of the market. But this year’s sales saw a decline of 3.3 percent over the 3,224 units sold in the same period last year.

Isuzu Philippines Corp. rounded up the list at no. 5 with 2,551 units sold and a market share of 6.6 percent. This year’s sales were 25.7-percent lower than the 3,434 units sold in the same period last year.

Toyota, with 8,289 units, sold the most number of commercial vehicles during the period, but it lost its dominance in passenger cars to Honda, which sold 5,054 units. Toyota sold 5,012 passenger cars during the same period.

Honda’s sales in the first four months of the year were 30.4 percent more than in the same period last year.

The carmaker attributed the brisk sales to the entry early this year of its new City model, which accounted for more than half of the Honda units sold so far this year.

Toyota’s decline here mirrored the troubles of its parent company, which reported an annual net loss of ¥436.9 billion ($4.4 billion), worse than its own forecast and a dramatic turnaround from the previous year’s record profit of ¥1.72 trillion.

It was the first time that Toyota, founded 72 years ago, had finished a year in the red since it started publishing results in 1941.

The company expects a massive operating loss of about $8.6 billion in the current business year to March, underlining the depth of the turmoil shaking the global auto industry.

The company, which dethroned General Motors last year as world number one, logged an operating loss of ¥461.0 billion against a year-earlier profit of ¥2.27 trillion. Revenue slumped 21.9 percent to ¥20.53 trillion. –Elaine R. Alanguilan, Manila Standard Today with AFP