Vehicle sales up 23% to 72,988 units as of May

MANILA, Philippines - Sales of car and truck assemblers went up by more than a fifth in the January to May period from last year due to strong demand for vehicles, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said.

In a statement yesterday, the CAMPI said combined sales of the group and the Truck Manufacturers Association Inc. reached 72,988 units as of end-May, 23.3 percent higher than the 59,174 units in the comparable period last year.

Passenger car sales rose 35.4 percent to 23,904 units in the five-month period from the 17,656 units last year.

Sales of commercial vehicles also grew 18.2 percent to 49,084 units as of end-May, from 41,518 units in the previous year.

Light commercial vehicle sales, which reached 30,680 units as of end-May, also posted a 28.9 percent increase from 23,807 units a year ago.

“Improvement in the economy is always first manifested by an upward trend in light commercial vehicle sales.

This is because this type of vehicle could easily double as a family vehicle and a business transport service,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

Higher sales of trucks and buses were also seen for the five-month period which jumped 58 percent to 778 units from 493 units in the previous year.

By company, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the market leader with its 40.34 percent share.