Car industry ends H1 with record 31% sales increase
The domestic car industry finished the first half of the year with a record 30.7 percent increase in sales, reflecting strong consumer spending for big ticket items, a joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed.
The first half total sales was boosted by new motor vehicle sales for June with 36,311 units, or a 27-percent increase compared with 28,601 units in the same period a year ago.
CAMPI President Atty. Rommel Gutierrez noted that the auto industry’s double-digit growth is a reflection of improved consumer spending for big-ticket items as inflation continues to ease up.
Based on the CAMPI-TMA data, the June sales have brought the total first semester sales to 202,415 units or 30.7 percent increase from the 154,874 units sold in the same period a year ago.
Of total sales, the commercial vehicle (CV) segment accounted for the bulk of sales at 151,567 units or 39.8 percent higher than the 225,872 units sold in the same January-June period last year. The CV segment accounted for 74.88 percent share of total sales.
The passenger car (PC) segment sold a total of 50,848 units or 30.4 percent higher than same period last year. The PC segment is just 25.4 percent or one-fourth of total local vehicle market.
The biggest sales contributors in the first half this year were Toyota Motors Corp. with total sales of 93,575 units for a market share of 46.23 percent.
Mitsubishi Motors Phils. followed with 37,001 units sold and Ford Motor Philippines to complete the top three with sales of 13,838 units.
“This sends a strong signal of sustained optimism for the industry as we welcome the second half of the year. Maintaining this level of growth on a monthly basis, the industry has indeed high hopes of achieving or even exceeding its sales target for this year,” said Gutierrez.
Members of CAMPI and TMA aim to grow their sales by 10 percent to 15 percent this year, with sales projected at 395,000 units.