AVID sales up 37% in Sept

MANILA, Philippines - Sales of imported vehicles rose 37 percent in the month of September on strong sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID) reported yesterday.

AVID said vehicle sales for September reached 3,043 units, 37 percent from 2,227 units sold in the same period last year. In the first nine months of the year, sales grew 19 percent to 27,013 units from 22,785 units.

Sales of passenger cars (PC) rose 38 percent year-on-year to 1,703 units in September. Year-to-date, PC sales of AVID member companies rose 19 percent to 14,050 units.

Strong sales growth in the PC segment was fueled by top performers Hyundai, Subaru and Volvo.

Sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) reached 1,340 units in September, up 35 percent from sales of 997 units sold in September last year. Year-to-date, LCV sales rose 18 percent to 12,963 units.

Chevrolet remains the best performer in the segment.

“The popularity of AVID’s vehicle across various segments has given the group its 9th straight month of positive growth, which further signals solid sales performance heading towards the year-end Christmas season,” said AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

AVID groups Hyundai Asia Resources Inc.; British United, the distributor if MINI cars; CATS Motors, the distributor of Mercedes Benz; PGA Cars, which sells Porsche and Audi; Scandinavian Motors, official distributor of Volvo; Subaru; The Covenant Covenant Car Co. Inc., distributor of Chevrolet GM vehicles.

AVID expects strong consumer confidence to continue for the remainder of the year.

“Investment influx to the Philippines remains strong, placing the country in a strong position in the international scene. Despite the robust money supply condition and cost-push inflationary pressures, the government expects these factors to temper down in the near term,” said Perez-Agudo.

“Strong consumer confidence and bright economic prospects continue to be healthy for the automotive industry for the remainder of this year,” she added.