Philippine auto sales slow down in August with 35,309 vehicles sold, according to the latest report from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA). Registering a slight decline of 4.4% compared to the previous month. The decline is attributable to the recent crackdown by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Transport Network Companies (TNCs) Grab and Uber which continued to accept 'partner drivers' despite a moratorium issued in 2016.

Year-to-date growth still remained optimistic at 268,424 units with an 16.7% growth compared to last year's 229,919 units. Passenger car sales were significantly down by 11.4% while Commercial vehicle sales were trimmed by 0.8%.

Compared to the same month in 2016, August 2017 reflected a 8.7% gain against the 32,472 unit total the previous year. Passenger Car sales went up by 1.1%, while Commercial Vehicle sales managed a 12.7% growth.

Still driving industry sales was the Commercial Vehicle segment which sold a total of 24,051 units, capturing 68.12% of the market. Passenger Car sales totaled 11,258, taking the remaining 31.88% share of the pie.

"August sales result remained stable, driven by the good sales performance of key models from major manufacturers. In addition to this is the competitive promotional support and marketing activities to further push vehicles," said Atty. Rommel Gutierrez, CAMPI president.

The Commercial Vehicle sub-segments were still led by Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV), comprising 64.44% of CV sales with 15,499 units sold; 3.3% more than last month's 15,000 total. AUV/MPV reversed momentum with 6,864 units, an 11.6% downtrend compared to 7,764 last month. Truck and bus sales were mostly positive. Light truck sales gained 22.8%, selling a total of 1,041 units compared to the previous month's 848 unit total. Category 4 Heavy Duty Truck and Bus sales totaled 404 units (+3.3%) compared to last month's 418 units. Category 5 Heavy Duty Truck and Bus also recovered with 243 units sold, (+10.5%) compared to last month's 220 units.

Sales performance were mostly down for most brands in August. The top 3 advancers*: Honda (HCPI) gained 10.2%, Mercedes-Benz (ANG) sales increased by 7.2%, Ford (FMCP) sales increased by 6.5%, Top three decliners for August* were BMW (ACC) with a 35% drop, Volkswagen (ACEI) with a 31.3% decline, and Mazda (BAP) down by 14.4%.

*only brands selling more than 100 units per month were included.

The top five performing manufacturers for the month of August are:

1. Toyota – 15,565 units (44.08% market share)

2. Mitsubishi – 6,318 units (17.89% market share)

3. Ford– 3,166 units (8.97% market share)

4. Honda – 2,216 units (6.28% market share)

5. Isuzu – 2,111 units (5.98% market share)

The total count for the first eight months of 2017 sees Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation with its commanding lead of the market with 44.1-percent. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation followed in second with 17.68-percent. Ford Motor Company Philippines, Inc. remains in third with 8.51-percent. Isuzu Philippines, Corp. is in fourth position with 6.84-percent, with Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. remains in fifth with 6.71-percent.