AVID posts 21% sales hike

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s group of vehicle importers saw sales climb by more than a fifth in June from a year ago driven by strong demand for passenger cars (PC) and light commercial vehicles (LCV).

According to the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. (AVID), it sold 2,973 units in June, 21 percent higher than its sales of 2,447 units in the same month last year.

The uptick in sales was achieved given the positive performance of both the PC and LCV segment.

The group’s PC sales grew 22 percent to reach 1,515 units in June from 1,240 units in the previous year.

The higher PC sales was mainly supported by the performance of the following firms: British United Automobiles, Inc. (MINI), CATS Motors, Inc. (Mercedes Benz, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge) and Hyundai Asia Resources Inc.

LCV sales rose 21 percent to 1,458 units last month from 1,207 units in June 2013.

Contributing to the growth in the LCV segment was the 128 percent jump in LCV sales of Chevrolet for the month of June.

The June result allowed the AVID to see a 17 percent increase in first semester sales to 17,902 units from 15,345 units in the comparable period last year.

PC sales for the January to June period went up 16 percent to 9,061 units from 7,821 units in the same period a year ago.

As for the LCV segment, AVID’s sales grew 18 percent to 8,841 units as of end-June from 7,524 units in the same period in 2013.

For the rest of the year, the group is optimistic its positive sales performance would be sustained.

“Following its winning streak in the first half of the year, AVID expects to keep its sales track upbeat towards the end of the year as we continue to differentiate our brands towards increased customer satisfaction with our excellent product and service offerings and customer engagement initiatives,” AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.

In 2013, AVID sold a total of 31,399 units, up 11 percent from the 28,400 units in the previous year.