Domestic motor vehicle sales in the first quarter this year went up by 30.1 percent to 97,284 units as against 74,754 units sold in the same period last year, with March sales hitting 36,880 units, making it the second highest monthly performance post pandemic, official industry data showed. A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that total new motor vehicle sales for March 2023 reached 36,880 units, equivalent to 24.2 percent increase compared with 29,685 units recorded in the same period a year ago. “Achieving the 36,880-unit sales in March is indeed good news as the auto industry continues to hinge on the thriving consumer demand for new motor vehicles, which hopefully will further improve in the coming months,” said CAMPI President Atty. Rommel Gutierrez. He, however, said that favorable economic conditions are also an important driving factor for sustained growth for the rest of the year. Notably, Gutierrez said that the March 2023 sales performance is the second highest monthly performance in a post-pandemic time, after the more than 37,000-unit sales level recorded in December last year. For the first quarter, growth in passenger cars hit a robust 35.1 percent growth to 24,753 units from 18,323 units in the same period last year and higher than the commercial vehicle segment growth of 28.5 percent for total sales of 72,531 units from 56,431 units in the same first quarter 2022. Among the commercial vehicle categories, only large trucks and buses (Category V) declined by 11.4 percent with sales of 217 units from 245 in the same period last year. Sales of Asian utility vehicles soared the highest at 73 percent or total sales of 14,688 units from 8,488 units. But the light commercial vehicles or the sports utility vehicle category got the volume with 55,436 or 21.5 percent growth than the 45,629 units sold in the same first quarter of 2022. Light trucks or pick ups also grew 10.6 percent with sales of 1,261 units from 1,140 units while light trucks and buses (Category IV) was steady at 929 units. Toyota Motor Philippines continued to run the show accounting for almost half of total industry sales for a market share of 49.80 percent with total 2023 first quarter sales of 45,205 units or 21.4 percent more than its 37,230 units in the same period last year. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines followed with 17,765 units for a dramatic 71.7 percent from only 10,346 units sold in the same first quarter last year to account for 13.84 percent market share. Nissan Philippines Inc. finished third with 6,396 units or 7.87 increase from 5,886 units last year for a market share of 8.7 percent. Ford Motor Philippines Inc. was fourth for 5,893 units and Honda Cars Philippines Inc. completed the top five with 4,661 units sold.