Car sales zoom by 22% in April

MANILA, Philippines —  Vehicle sales in the country accelerated by more than a fifth in April from a year ago, supported by strong demand and availability of automotive financing.

Data released by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association yesterday showed 37,314 motor vehicles were sold in April, up 21.8 percent from 30,643 units in the same month last year.

Motor vehicle sales in April, however, dipped by 0.4 percent from the 37,474 units sold in March.

“On the demand side, positive consumer and business confidence plus stability in automotive finance boosted sales,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

Commercial vehicle (CV) sales rose  by nearly 17 percent to 27,272 units in April from 23,326 units in the same month a year ago.

Sales of passenger cars (PC) picked up by 37.6 percent to 10,069 units in April from 7,317 units in the same month last year.

From January to April, total vehicle sales increased by 14.8 percent to 146,920 units from 127,927 units in the same period the previous year.

CVs continued to account for the bulk of total vehicle sales with 108,667 units sold in the first four months, 13.4 percent higher than the 95,857 units in the same period a year ago.

PC sales climbed by 19.4 percent to 38,280 units from January to April compared to  32,070 units in the same period last year.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the market leader, accounting for 46 percent of vehicle sales in the first four months.

This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with a share of 18.94 percent, Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. with 6.59 percent, Nissan Philippines Inc. with 6.38 percent and Suzuki Philippines Inc. with 4.16 percent.

With the recent approval by the National Economic and Development Authority of the expanded coverage of Executive Order (EO) 12 to include hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and plug-in HEV as part of EVs that can enjoy zero tariffs, Gutierrez said “CAMPI is expecting improvement in EV sales ratio this year considering EO 12 support.”

He said combined EV sales only accounted for 2.5 percent of total vehicle sales last year.

On the Department of Energy’s announcement of the implementation of higher biofuel blends beginning October this year, CAMPI said new vehicles being sold are already compatible with B3 biodiesel.

Further, CAMPI said the use of E20 or gasoline blended with 20 percent ethanol is voluntary.