Automobile sales further declined in July, according to the latest report by auto and truck manufacturers.
In the joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. and by the Truck Manufacturers Association on Friday, vehicles sales in the month of July to 28,038 units, down by 24.1% from a year earlier.
Compared to the previous month’s sales, this is a 4.5% contraction. Auto sales last June already dropped 21.7% in a year-on-year comparison  and also posted a 4% contraction from sales registered last May.
This brings year to date sales down by 14.4% to 199,628 units, the report showed.
The car industry has been wary of posting lower sales since last year before the TRAIN law was passed. In 2017, CAMPI and TMA said consumers buying vehicles before new excise taxes took effect resulted to higher sales.
Under the first package of the TRAIN law, vehicles worth under P600,000 are set to have 3% excise tax, while automobiles priced P4 million and higher are slapped with a 50% levy.
Previous tax rates for these cars were at 2% and 22%, respectively.
In July, passenger car sales dropped by 45.1% in a yearly comparison to 6,975 units. In a monthly comparison, this was also a 10.2% drop. This brings to a total of 63,004 units sold in the first seven months, down by 21.1% in a year on year comparison.
Commercial vehicles on the other hand, posted a slightly better performance with 21,063 units sold, only 13.1% lower from a comparative period last year. Month on month, commercial vehicle sales slid by 2.4%.
This brought year to date sales 10.8% lower to 136,669 units, the report showed. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

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