Despite having less days, February can be dubbed as another successful month for online vehicle sales as the total volume of AutoDeal attributed sales dropped by just 7% in comparison to the record-high volumes experienced in January. In addition to fewer days, sales may also have been hindered due to stricter regulations enforced by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) surrounding documentation needed for vehicle releases.
15.31% of the sales reported in the month of February came from customers who inquired during the month whereas the largest volume of buyers, consisting of 41.84% of February’s total reported sales were attributed to those who began their inquiries in January 2017.
Likewise, customers who inquired during December 2016 made up 17.35% of sales and the remainder of customers (consisting of a combined 25.51% of sales) inquired at earlier dates in 2016, ranging from November 2016 all the way back to May 2016. With this, the importance of nurturing online sales leads continues to be a critical factor for dealers to take into consideration when aiming to maximize their real world sales growth from online customer acquisition.
Given the high volume of “Love month” inspired promotional campaigns and the increased flux of opportunities it subsequently created, it looks likely (as of this writing) that we will see a strong lead to sale conversion increase for the months of March and April.
Top Buys
Coming as no great shock, the Philippines no.1 best selling vehicle, the Toyota Vios continued to be ranked as the most popular vehicle purchase on AutoDeal, making up around 10% of all recorded sales. The Suzuki Ertiga beat the Toyota Wigo by a handful of units to secure a respectful finish in second place, a position that is often reserved to a nameplate of one of the country’s top three selling brands. In the pick-up segment, the Nissan Navara continued to maintain steady sales progress among buyers looking for a lifestyle truck while The Toyota Fortuner slid into the no.1 spot for the most popular Mid-Size SUV purchase. For crossovers, the Ford EcoSport managed to surpass competition to make it the most popular nameplate in AutoDeal’s second biggest vehicle market.
Vehicle Types
The most significant trend change in February was an impressive 7% growth for the subcompact car segment, which accumulated to a total of 43% of all vehicle sales reported on AutoDeal. Among some of the most popular purchases were the Toyota Vios, Mitsubishi Mirage G4, and Hyundai Accent. Small city cars like the Toyota Wigo, Mitsubishi Mirage, and Hyundai EON also fielded good sales further supporting the theory of a fast-growing first time buying audience. While decreasing by 6% from January, Crossovers made up 16% of all purchases while MPV sales dropped by just 2% to make up 12% of purchases with nameplates like the Suzuki Ertiga, Toyota Avanza and Toyota Innova making up the bulk of buyers choices. Mid-Size SUV sales and Pick-Up sales both contributed to an equal 9% of combined sales.
Gender
63% of AutoDeal car sales were made by male buyers, up just 1% from January whereas the gender of sales agent rose in favor of females by 3% with 58% of transactions being recorded by female sales consultants. With this, there’s a definitive battle of the sexes emerging when it comes to comparing success levels in online sales - a figure that we’ll be continuing to examine in due course.
Location
36.33% of AutoDeal online sales were registered in the National Capital Region, with the Calabarzon region coming in second with 21.63% spurred by good turn outs in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna and Rizal .Central Luzon and the Central Visayas tallied equally to take joint third place with 13.47% share of sales. Areas like Northern Mindanao accounted for 5.31% and Western Visayas for 4.49%, driven in short by positive results for Pick-Ups and MPV’s.
*Data represented in this report originates from findings driven by sales data reported and remitted through the AutoDeal For Agents App.
