Motor vehicle sales in the country rose 20 percent in 2021 vs 2020, but it is still 27.42 percent lower than the pre-pandemic sales in 2019, a joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed.
Based on the CAMPI-TMA report, sales of its 23 member car companies in the country reached 268,488 units, reflecting a 20 percent growth compared to the 2020 sales of 223,793 units.
But the 2021 growth was still 27.42 percent lower than the pre-pandemic (2019) sales level of CAMPI-TMA of 369,941 units.
For December alone, sales reached 27,846 units for a modest growth of 5.3 percent compared with 26,456 units recorded in the previous month.
Of total 2021 sales, the report showed that sales of commercial vehicles grew 18.9 percent to 183,228 units from 154,155 units. This showed that commercial vehicle sales account for 68.88 percent of the group’s total sales.
Meantime, the passenger car segment grew stronger with 22.4 percent growth to 85,260 units from 69,683 units in 2020.
All vehicle categories were positive in 2021 with light trucks and buses (Category IV) posting the highest increase at 30.5 percent with total sales of 3,695 units from 2,831 units in 2020.
Sales of light commercial vehicles also went up by 20.9 percent to 141,321 units from 116,858 units in 2020.
Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. remained the top performer with 129,667 units or 29.6 percent increase from 100,019 units sold in 2020. Its 2020 performance also expanded the company’s market share to 48.3 percent from 44.69 percent in 2020.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. registered a flat growth with sales of 37,548 units while Ford Motor Co. Phils. Inc. finished third place with 20,005 units or 35.4 percent from 14,775 units sold in 2020.
Nissan Philippines Inc., which posted a 9.9 percent decline in sales to 19,603 units from 21,751 units, landed fourth.
Completing the top five is Suzuki Philippines, Inc., which increased its sales by 25 percent to 19,393 units from 15,515 units in 2020.
“The industry remains optimistic for a continued recovery this year from the COVID-19 pandemic downturn as progress on inoculation has provided hopes for a better outlook for the wider economy, but ‘business as usual’ is still unlikely as challenges remain at hand,” said CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez.