CV demand drives up vehicle sales

MANILA, Philippines — Vehicle assemblers registered their highest February sales over the past 10 years, driven by strong demand for commercial vehicles (CV).

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said combined sales with the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reached 29,790 units in February, up 13.2 percent from 26,327 units in the same month last year.

“Based on the industry’s statistics, we are also very pleased to report that the month of February 2020 has recorded with the highest sales figures, surpassing

 the same month’s sales performance in the last 10 years,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

Compared to the 23,723 units sold in January, combined sales of CAMPI and TMA rose 25.6 percent.

In January, CAMPI and TMA sales declined 12 percent year-on-year as Taal Volcano’s eruption brought ashfall, forcing some automotive firms to temporarily suspend operations of dealerships.

Growth in sales in February was driven by the CV segment as its sales rose 21.5 percent to 21,697 units from 17,856 units in the same month a year ago.

Passenger car (PC) sales, meanwhile, dipped 4.5 percent to 8,093 units in February from the previous year’s 8,471 units.

For the two-month period, combined CAMPI and TMA sales went up slightly to 53,513 units from 53,215 units last year.

CV sales climbed 7.2 percent to 38,877 units as of end-February from 36,257 units a year ago.

PC sales, on the other hand, were down 13.7 percent to 14,636 units in the January to February period from the previous year’s 16,958 units.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. maintained its market leadership with its 39.57 percent share as of end-February.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. held on to second spot through its 19.79 percent share, followed by Nissan Philippines Inc. with a 12.64 percent share.

On fourth spot was Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with 6.84 percent, while Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. was on fifth place with a 6.02 percent share.

Gutierrez said the industry is upbeat it would continue to see growth in sales in the coming months, but also watchful of the possible impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on operations.

He said “while the industry remains optimistic that this growth will be sustained in the coming months, we cannot disregard the ripple effect of COVID-19 moving forward.”

“It must be noted that the auto industry remains one of the most complex and integrated supply chains regionally and globally,” he said.