Vehicle sales plunged 23 percent in November to 31,258 units from 40,799 units a year ago, combined data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association show.
Data also showed on a month-on-month basis, automotive sales dropped 5.7 percent from 33,150 units sold in October 2018.
Campi and TMA said that almost all segments registered slower sales on a monthly basis, except for the light trucks segment that grew 4.4 percent to 753 units from 721 units.
Campi president Rommel Gutierrez said the industry remained positive and hopeful that it would rebound by yearend and in 2019 as automotive players became familiar with the new taxation system under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.
“We remain confident that the industry will continue to recover as the year ends,” he said.
By category, the passenger car segment sales went down 2.6 percent to 9,197 units in November from 9,444 units in October.
The commercial vehicle segment declined 6.9 percent to 22,061 units from 23,706 units in the previous month.
The Asian utility vehicle segment declined 7.8 percent to 3,142 units in November from 3,409 units a month earlier, while the light commercial vehicle segment dipped 6.9 percent to 17,594 units from 18,896 units.
Trucks and buses recorded the highest decline of 22 percent among all the segments, with 425 units sold in November compared to 546 units delivered in October.
Campi said total sales in the first 11 months declined 14.4 percent to 325,465 units from 380,179 units in the same period last year.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the market leader with 42.5-percent market share followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp with 19 percent.
Nissan Philippines Inc. ranked third with 9.7 percent market share, followed by Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. and Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with 6.6 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.
