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Philippines: Vehicle sales halt skid, rise 1.4% in 6 months
MANILA, Philippines — Local car assemblers finally snapped a cumulative sales decline as total sales in the first six months rose 1.46 percent from a year ago, signaling improving demand particularly for commercial vehicles.
A joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association Inc. (TMA) released yesterday showed that total sales reached 174,135 units in the first semester, up from 171,635 units in the same period last year.
While passenger car (PC) sales were still down, sales of commercial vehicles (CV) increased year-on-year.
In particular, PC sales declined 6.4 percent to 52,418 units as of end-June from the previous year’s 56,029 units, while CV sales climbed 5.3 percent to 121,717 units in the January to June period from 115,606 units a year ago.
For the month of June alone, CAMPI and TMA sales increased 8.7 percent to 31,950 units from 29,395 units in the same month last year.
PC sales in June grew 22 percent to 9,532 units from the previous year’s 7,811 units.
The CV segment also rose 3.9 percent in June with 22,418 units sold compared to 21,584 units a year ago.
By company, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the top selling brand in the January to June period with a 42.18 percent market share.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. followed at second place with 17.92 percent market share and Nissan Philippines Inc. ranked third with 12.09 percent.
“We remain very optimistic that the local auto industry is already on a path of steady growth after we conclude the first half of the year on a positive note,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.
“The automotive brands’ collective efforts, highlighted by fleet sales, good financing deals, and model updates and upgrades, show that we have learned to adjust and adapt to market conditions thus helping consumers acquire new vehicles with fewer hurdles,” he added.
Total sales of CAMPI and TMA reached 357,410 units last year, 16 percent lower than the 425,673 units sold in 2017, as demand for cars was dampened by the government’s move to impose higher taxes on automobiles.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/07/12/1933935/vehicle-sales-halt-skid-rise-14-6-months#zOxqduRLJ1h1XuMA.99