Car sales up 21% in August

MANILA, Philippines - Sales of local vehicle assemblers grew more than a fifth in August, driven by higher demand for passenger cars (PCs) and commercial vehicles (CVs).

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said in a statement yesterday that while August has traditionally been a “ghost” period such that major decisions including vehicle purchases are delayed, combined sales of the group and the Truck Manufacturers Association Inc. (TMA) reached 13,700 units last month, 21 percent higher than the 11,351 units in the same month in 2012.

PC sales jumped 46.3 percent to 5,122 units in August from 3,501 units last year,

CV sales also went up 9.3 percent to 8,578 units from the previous year’s 7,850 units.

For the January to August period, combined sales of CAMPI and TMA rose 18 percent to 116,617 units from 98,725 units in the comparable period last year.

The positive performance in the eight-month period was driven by growth in both the PC and CV segments.

The PC segment climbed 29 percent to 38,223 units as of-end August from 29,745 units a year ago.

CV sales increased 14 percent to 78,394 units in the eight-month period compared to the 68,980 units in the previous year.

By company, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. continued to lead the market, accounting for a 40-percent share of total sales in the January to August period.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. came in second with its 24-percent share, followed by Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with eight percent.

Given the latest sales performance, CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said the industry is on track to meet their sales target set at 210,000 units for the year.

“This makes us confident about meeting our revised target of 210,000 which is only 15 percent higher than the total 2012 industry sales of 182,000 units,” he said.

He said the industry is likewise preparing for the anticipated seasonal increase in sales.

“The market should expect some new model introduction as well as bigger promotion packages,” he added.