Philippine vehicle sales are down 48 percent for the first eight months of the year compared to last year as consumer demand remained weak amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In a joint report, CAMPI and TMA said total vehicle sales from January to August 2020 reached 123,489 units, down from 235,544 units in the same period last year.

Passenger car (PC) sales fell by 50 percent to 35,523 units as of end-August from 70,596 units a year ago, while sales of commercial vehicles (CV) slumped 47 percent to 87,966 units as of end-August from 164,948 units a year ago.

Overall sales reached 17,906 units in August—40 percent lower than last year’s 29,599 units. Sales of PCs were at 5,454 units in August, a 38 percent reduction from the previous year’s 8,781 units, while sales of CVs dropped by 40 percent to 12,452 units in August from 20,818 units a year ago.

CAMPI president Atty. Rommel Gutierrez attributed the lower sales to the low business and consumer confidence on the back of the economic slowdown. It was also affected for about two months due to the Taal Volcano eruption and ash fall last January.

Gutierrez who is also Toyota Motor Philippines’s first vice-president for corporate affairs said that they are currently in talks with the government to extend the 6-year CARS (Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy) deadline. Due to the economic slowdown, he is not confident that they will meet the 200,000-unit target.

At the same time, Gutierrez also warns the government not to introduce any restrictive policies in the guise of economic safeguards as this will only limit the industry’s capacity to navigate the crisis.

It must be remembered that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has an ongoing investigation to determine if safeguard measures should be imposed on imported automobiles following a petition filed by the Philippine Metalworkers Alliance last year.

CAMPI is hopeful the DTI would consider the impact of imposing safeguard measures on vehicle imports on the automotive industry’s recovery.

For now, Gutierrez said automotive players are turning to aggressive promotions to encourage consumers to make purchases to achieve the revised sales forecast of 240,000 units for the year.