Motor vehicle sales soared 29.4 percent in July to 27,813 units from 21,498 units in the same month last year although slightly lower by 2.8 percent than the June sales this year, a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).
The July sales have brought total CAMPI-TMA sales to 182,687 units in the first seven months this year or 18.4 percent higher than the same period last year of 154,265 units.
The big growth driver in July was the commercial vehicle segment with 21,144 units, which grew 49.1 percent compared with the 14,396 units in July 2021.
Of the commercial vehicle sales, light commercial vehicles grew 55.3 percent to 16,294 from 10,493 units in July last year. Sales from the Asian utility vehicle category contributed 4,375 units or 39.9 percent higher than the 3,127 units in the same month last year. Big trucks and buses (category 4) dropped by 39.3 percent in July to 54 units as against 89 units in the same month last year.
However, the passenger car segment declined by 10.6 percent with sales hitting only 6,346 units in July from 7,102 units in July last year.
Industry leader Toyota Motor Philippines sold 13,936 units in July bringing its year-to- date performance to 94,026 units or 26.2 percent higher than its 74,521 units in the same period last year.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. maintained its second slot with sales of
5,027 units, a 90 percent jump from its 2,046 unit sales in July 2021, bringing its January-July total sales to 25,761 units or 14.5 percent higher than its 22,504 units in the same period last year.
Nissan Philippines Inc. ranked third with July sales of 1,705 units or total sales of 12,893 unit sales year-to-date.
Suzuki Philippines finished fourth with 1,562 units sold in July and total Jan.-July sales to 11,413 units. Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. sold 1,797 units to 10,753 in the first seven months this year to complete the top five industry performers.
CAMPI President Atty. Rommel Gutierrez attributed the double-digit sales growth recorded in July to the higher demand for new motor vehicles that brings a high degree of confidence for continued recovery of the auto industry. “This mirrors the improvement on the consumer outlook for big-ticket items based on the government report,” he said.
“The improvement in the availability of jobs and employment, business recovery and containment of the pandemic are important drivers for the overall economic recovery in this post pandemic normalcy – similarly true for the industry’s recovery as well.”