Auto Industry to Recover in Q4 of 2021, Sales Expected to Shift Gears

Investments and banking executives are enthusiastic about the domestic automotive industry’s recovery starting in the fourth quarter of 2021 and persisting until 2022.

Johnny Fetalvero, House of Investments (HI) Senior Vice-President and Car Business Operations head, attributes the industry’s coming recovery to various factors including the continued vaccination rollout, easing of government restrictions, and election spending.

Auto sales have recently declined due to the resurgence of active Covid-19 cases in March followed by the reimposition of an enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

“But the Filipino spending and revelry culture in the Christmas season is expected to shift auto sales to fourth gear,” said Fetalvero.

In the past year, inquiries with car dealerships dropped by 20%. However, there is proof that consumer demand for the automotive industry remained evidenced by the rise in inquiries through the social media platforms of car dealers.

Some Filipinos also feel safer and more secure when they have their own cars as opposed to taking public transportation during the pandemic.

During the first few months of lockdown in 2020, sales of refinanced cars saw an increase. In the fourth quarter of the same year, the purchase of new cars picked up, said the Head of the Consumer Lending Group of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) Ramil M. De Villa.

“I’m confident the normal uptick in Q4 will again be observed,” said De Villa.

Source: Manila Bulletin