Vehicle sales up 21% in 1st qtr

The crisis in the local automotive industry has finally bottomed out, with sales going up for the third straight month, ending the first quarter for the year 20.7 percent up compared to 1999 sales.

According to reports from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI), industry sales went up by 3,594 units from 17,386 units last year to 20,980 units during the first quarter this year.

Commercial vehicles continued to lead the recovery, posting a 24.4-percent increase during the period from 10,784 units last year to 13,418 units this year Passenger cars posted a 14.5-percent sales increase from 6,602 units to 7,562 units.

CAMPI secretary general Miguel de Grano said the decline has finally bottomed out and the industry has begun to recover in earnest, albeit slowly.

Toyota Motor Philippines continued to lead the market with sales totaling 6,312 units, followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. with 4,066 units sold. In third place was Honda Cars Philippines which sold 3,850 units and in fourth place was Nissan Motors Philippines with 1,044 units sold.

Data from the CAMPI indicated that in the passenger car segment, Honda retained its lead with sales of 3,002 units, followed by Toyota which sold 1,798 units. In third was Nissan which sold 965 units followed by Mitsubishi which sold 497 units.

CAMPI said the sales data bared strong indications that the industry is beginning to recover in earnest after receiving a betting in the wake of the Asian currency crisis.

Commercial vehicles, for instance, posted the biggest growth of 34.8 percent on a year-to-date basis and a 29.9 percent growth in February alone.

This year, CAMPI said it expects car sales to total 29,600 units, as signs of a recovery became imminent during the later part of last year. -