The auto industry isn’t in reverse – it’s changing lanes

IF you looked only at the latest sales report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association Inc. (TMA), you might think the Philippine automotive industry had suddenly lost momentum. Sales were down 12.1 percent through May. Passenger-car sales had fallen by more than 16 percent. Even commercial vehicles, the industry’s traditional workhorses, slipped by more than 11 percent. But that would be the wrong conclusion. The Philippine auto market isn’t shrinking. It’s resetting. For the past three years, the industry enjoyed what many mistakenly assumed was the new normal. It wasn’t….