Sales of the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (AVID) grew 14 percent in 2021 to 58,916 units versus 51,851 units sold in 2020.
AVID’s light commercial vehicles (LCV) helped offset the decline in passenger cars (PC), believed to be the most affected by quarantine measures.
LCVsrecorded the largest segment market share with 73 percent, and posted a 23 percent increase in sales to 42,871 units from the 34,896 units in 2020.
Ford consistently led the segment with 18,324 units sold, followed by Suzuki, 11,314 units; and Geely third with 6,104 units sold.
Sales of commercial vehicles (CV) grew by 212 percent to 953 units last year from 305 in 2020 bannered by Hyundai trucks and buses with 206 percent growth, or from 305 units sold in 2020 to 936 units sold in 2021.
PC sales contracted by 9 percent from 16,650 units in 2020 to 15,092 units in 2021.
Hyundai PC sales fell 45 percent from 8,464 units to 4,639, sliding to the second bestselling brand in the segment.
Suzuki led all PC brands in 2021, selling 18,079 units, an increase of 31 percent from 6,177 the previous year.
Despite the year- on-year drop of 28 percent in December from 2020, the segment’s month-on-month performance gradually improved by 3 percent from November with Suzuki at the lead with 8,079 units sold followed by Hyundai with 4,639 units sold.
“You cannot downplay the importance of mobility in the reopening of the economy, gradual though it may be,” said AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo. “With unwavering confidence in the market and in the quality of our product and service offerings, AVID members are determined to build on these gains and look forward to an even better normal in 2022.”
