Domestic carsales in the first ten months this year jumped 30.9 percent to 280,300 units from 214,186 units in the same period last year, with Toyota Motor Philippines accounting for half of total industry sales.

A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed growth was driven by commercial vehicles, which sales grew 45.6 percent year to date to 211,948 units from 145,573 units in the same period last year. Commercial vehicle sales accounted for 75.61 percent of total industry sales.

Meantime, the passenger car segment was slightly down at negative 0.4 percent with ten-month sales reaching 68,352 units from 68,608 units in the same period January-October period 2021.

On a monthly basis, however, sales in October reached only 32,146 units or 8.9 percent lower than the 35,282 units sold in the previous month, September.

Among the 27 car companies of CAMPI-TMA, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. sold 140,425 units or 50.10 percent share of total sales. TMP’s sales also registered a 35.7 percent increase than the 103,475 units sold in the same January-October period in 2021.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. was second with sales of 40,666 units, followed by Ford Motor Co. Phils. Inc. with 18,645 units and Nissan Philippines Inc. with 17,762 units. Suzuki Phils. Inc. completed the top five with sales of 16,167 units.

“The continued double-digit growth recorded anew in October is boosting optimism for the automotive industry, further accelerating full recovery this year from the pandemic disruptions,” CAMPI President Atty. Rommel Gutierrez.

“Sustaining this growth trend in the remaining months of the year gives us confidence that the industry will be able to emerge strong, exceeding its forecast speaking from the current business-as-usual standpoint,” Gutierrez added.