Vehicle sales speed up in H1

MANILA, Philippines — Sales of cars and trucks in the country picked up by 11.8 percent in the first semester from a year ago, driven by improved consumer demand.

A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that the industry ended the first half of the year with vehicle sales of 226,279 units, up from 202,415 units during the same period in 2023.

Passenger car (PC) sales accelerated by 17.8 percent to 59,875 units from January to June compared to 50,848 units in the same period last year.

Sales of commercial vehicles (CV) increased by 9.8 percent to 166,404 units in the first semester from 151,567 units in the same period a year ago.

For June alone, CAMPI and TMA sales climbed by 7.6 percent to 39,088 units from 36,311 units in the same month in 2023.

On a month-on-month basis, however, vehicle sales in June declined by 2.9 percent from 40,271 units in May.

“The decline in consumer demand, as well as delays in the arrival of vehicle units and supply limitation for fast-moving variants all contributed to this decline,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

Sales of passenger cars grew by 18.3 percent to 10,628 units in June from 8,986 units in the same month last year.

A total of 28,460 CVs were sold in June, 4.2 percent higher than the 27,325 units in the same month a year ago.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remains the dominant player in the local automotive market in the first semester with a 46.12-percent share.

This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with an 18.83-percent share and Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. in the third spot with 6.39 percent.

Nissan Philippines Inc. ranked fourth with a 6.16-percent share while Suzuki Philippines Inc. placed fifth with 4.26 percent.