Car sales climb 5.5 percent in May

MANILA, Philippines — Sales of motor vehicles in the country picked up by 5.5 percent in May from a year ago, supported by improved supply and demand.

A joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released yesterday showed that the industry sold 40,271 vehicles in May, up from the 38,177 units sold in the same month last year.

Compared with the 37,314 vehicles sold in April, vehicle sales in May increased by 7.9 percent.

“Improvements in the supply and good consumer demand, coupled with increase in automotive financial scheme and extensive sales activities, helped boost sales on a month-on-month basis,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

Commercial vehicle (CV) sales rose by 3.2 percent to 29,304 units in May from 28,385 units in the same month a year ago.

As for the passenger car (PC) segment, sales grew by 12 percent to 10,967 units in May from 9,792 units in the same month in 2023.

In the January to May period, combined sales of CAMPI and TMA increased by 12.7 percent to 187,191 units from the 166,104 units in the same period last year.

CVs continued to drive industry performance, accounting for 74 percent of total vehicle sales in the January to May period.

Sales of CVs in the five-month period increased by 11 percent to 137,944 units from the previous year’s 124,242 units.

The PC segment, which had a 26 percent share of total vehicle sales in the five-month period, sold 49,247 units, up by 17.6 percent from 41,862 units in the same period last year.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. continued to dominate the automotive industry through its 46.08 percent share in the January to May period.

This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. in second place with 18.78 percent and Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. in third spot with 6.54 percent.

Nissan Philippines Inc. placed fourth with 6.17 percent, followed by Suzuki Philippines Inc. with a 4.26 percent share.