Car, truck sales jump 51% in Jan

MANILA, Philippines - Vehicle sales of the local car and truck manufacturers rose 51 percent in January from a year ago due to growing demand.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said in a statement car and truck sales reached 12,256 units in January, higher than the 8,127 units sold in the same month last year.

The CAMPI noted that while January has traditionally been a slow month following the usual December car buying spree, last month’s sales performance is another indication of the country’s healthy economic growth.

The higher sales in January was supported by an increase in the purchases of both commercial vehicles and passenger cars.

The commercial vehicle sector, which had a 66-percent share of total sales in January, grew 34 percent to 8,095 units from last year.

The PC segment which accounted for 34 percent of total sales, jumped 98 percent to 4,161 units from a year ago.

By company, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. was the top contributor to total sales last month, accounting for a 38 percent share or 4,716 units sold.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. had the second largest share at 23.25 percent with its sales of 2,850 units.

Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. came in third with an 11.19 percent share having sold 1,372 units.

For the rest of the year, the CAMPI is confident that the industry will meet its target of 200,000 units.

“The stable macroeconomic environment as well as increase in market confidence, steady inflow of foreign investments, active household and government consumption combined with continuous expansion in the industry and service sectors to be complemented with new model introductions and aggressive promotions, will all contribute to realizing this target,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

The CAMPI also said that on expectations of continued positive growth projection, motorization seems inevitable.