MANILA, Philippines — Total motor vehicle sales in the 11-month period this year declined 1.9 percent to 131,242 units in the same period last year largely pulled down by the significant decline in November sales as the flooding in the Thailand took its toll on the local supply, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said.

In a report, CAMPI said the Thai flooding has caused a significant 10.4 percent decline in sales in November as sales in both passenger and commercial vehicles slump to 12,090 units from 13,489 units the previous month. Compared to November last year, the November 2011 sales dropped 3.3 percent.

Of the total sales, the passenger car segment suffered the biggest loss of 5.6 percent as sales hit only a total of 41,789 units from 44,252 units in the same 11-month period last year. Sales of passenger cars in November took a beating with 34.1 percent decrease versus November 2010 sales. The same decline was posted versus October 1011 sales.

The commercial vehicle segment also slightly declined 0.04 percent to 89,453 units from 89,487 units.

"The decline can be attributed to the initial effects of the supply problem in Thailand, which limited the availability of some models in the domestic market," the CAMPI statement stated. Most of the local carplayers import their completely built up units and parts supplies from Thailand, the region’s automotive hub.

Except for light commercial vehicles (LCVs or the compact sports utility vehicles) and trucks and buses, all other vehicle categories suffered a decline in the January-November 2011 reckoning period.

LCVs managed to post a very modest 0.1 percent improvement to 53,752 units over 53,672 units in the January-November period this year. The LCVs already account for a hefty 59.98 percent of the total domestic vehicle market.

Sales of Asian utility vehicles (AUVs) declined 0.4 percent to 33,036 units from 33,180 units in the same 11 months last year. The LCVs account for 37.08 percent of the total domestic vehicle market. In November, however, LCV sales posted a hefty 21.7 percent increase to 5,741 units versus 4,718 units in November 2010 but it declined a negative 2 percent versus October 2011 sales.

The light trucks category posted a negative 0.7 percent in the January-November period as sales hit only 1,708 units from 1,720 units in the first 11 months of the year. This category also posted a 15.6 percent decrease compared to November 2010 sales of 160 units as November 2011 sales hit only 142 units.

Sales of trucks and buses registered a positive 4.7 percent increase to 958 units sold in the January-November period versus 915 units in the same period last year.

However, sales for this category in the November 2011 posted a sharp decline of 52.3 percent as the sector only sold 61 units versus 136 units in November 2011. It also posted a higher decline of 55.1 percent compared to October 2011 sales of 136 units.

In terms of ranking, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. posted a 1.2 percent cline in sales for the first 11 months this year with sales of 50,610 units over 51,232 units in the same period last year. For the November month alone, TMPC sold 5,294 units reflecting a 15.1 percent improvement versus the previous month sales performance of 5,896 units.