The country's automotive sector has fully recovered in 2023 with sales surging 21.9 percent to 429,807 units versus 352,596 units in 2022 as Filipinos continued with their purchases for personal and business despite soaring inflation rates last year.
According to data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association's (TMA) joint sales report, total sales for all vehicle types in 2023 reached 429,807, compared to 352,596 sales in 2022. The 2023 sales performance was also higher by 16.18 percent compared to the 369,941 units sold by the two groups pre-pandemic in 2019.
Except for medium-duty trucks and buses (Category IV), which declined 2.9 percent, all other segments and categories registered significant increases.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez already hinted last year of breaching pre-pandemic sales and full industry recovery in 2023.
“2023 was a very strong year for the industry and we are very excited about 2024. Positive economic outlook, new model introductions and the electrification trend are expected to contribute to a record-breaking sales this year,” Gutierrez said.
Commercial vehicles make up 74.58 percent of the market share with 320,543 units, while 25.42 percent market share comprise passenger cars with 109,264 units.
Notably, among the commercial vehicle categories, the light commercial vehicle or largely the sport utility vehicle category dominated sales with 248,148 units for a wide 77.41 percent market share. This was 18.3 percent higher compared to the 209,728 units sold in the entire 2022.
In December 2023 alone, passenger car sales went up by 11.4 percent with 9,599 units purchased in a single month, from 8,614 recorded in December 2022.
Commercial vehicle sales in the same period last year went up by 3.2 percent with 29,554 units from 28,114 units in December 2022.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remains to dominate total vehicles sales with 200,031 units and a market share of 46.54 percent for 2023. Sales increased by 14.9 percent last year from selling 174,106 units.
Toyota's passenger car sales dipped by 8.4 percent in 2023 with 54,954 units, from 50,450 units sold in 2022. However, the company's commercial vehicle sales increased by 17.3 percent to 145,077 units last year from 123,656 units in 2022.
Toyota is the top pick for Asian Utility Vehicles (AUVs) and Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) in 2023 with 31,815 AUV units and 113,101 LCV units sold.
Meanwhile, most of the trucks and buses have been purchased from Isuzu Philippines Corp, with 3,034 light-duty, 1,407 medium-duty, and 397 heavy-duty units.
Following Toyota in overall vehicle sales are: Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (78,371 units with market share of 18.23 percent); Ford Motor Company Phils. Inc. (31,320 units with market share of 7.29 percent); Nissan Philippines Inc. (27,136 units with a 6.31 percent market share); and Suzuki Philippines. Inc. (18,454 units with a 4.29 percent market share).