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Imported car sales drop 55% in Jan-June

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Imported car sales drop 55% in Jan-June

Sales of imported vehicles plunged 54.8 percent in the first half of 2020, a car industry group said, but signs of recovery were seen last June.

In a report released on Tuesday, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (AVID) said imported vehicle sales dropped to 19,455 units in the first six months compared to the 43,082 units sold a year prior due to closing of dealerships for over two months.

The passenger car segment witnessed a 60-percent decrease in sales to 6,111 units from the 15,279 units sold in the first half of 2019.

The light commercial vehicle’s sales also declined 51.6 percent to 13,207 against the previous 27,300. The commercial vehicle, meanwhile, saw its sales shrink 73 percent to 137 units from a year earlier’s 503 units sold.

“This is not the industry’s first crisis but it is surely the most challenging,” AVID President Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said in a statement.

While the month of June recorded a 198-percent increase in sales to 3,697 units compared to May’s 1,239 units, the group acknowledged that the sector may continue facing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic headwinds.

“While AVID members and their partner-dealerships have gone to great lengths to Covid-proof their facilities, strengthen online e-commerce assets, and offer extraordinary promotions and deals to win back customers and encourage buying, headwinds remain,” Agudo said.

These include lower remittances, weaker demand and the prospect of a second (Covid-19) wave, so we can’t let our guard down,” she added.

   

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