Vehicle sales up 43% in March

MANILA, Philippines — Local vehicle assemblers achieved their highest monthly sales since the pandemic, rising by 43 percent in March, as Metro Manila and several areas moved to the most lenient alert level status.

A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released yesterday showed their total vehicle sales reached 29,685 units in March, higher than the 20,702 units sold in the same month a year ago.

On a month-on-month basis, combined CAMPI and TMA sales were up by 22 percent in March compared to the 24,304 units sold in February.

“March performance has already reached the industry’s pre-COVID level of sales – and now the highest monthly sales recorded since the onset of the pandemic, based on our data,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

“This milestone is very important to the industry as this essentially gives us a positive signal of continued recovery as the economy and business operations start to normalize,” he said.

While CAMPI and TMA’s total vehicle sales rose in March, their passenger car (PC) sales dipped slightly to 6,625 units from 6,661 a year ago.

Commercial vehicle (CV) sales, on the other hand, accelerated by 64.2 percent to 23,060 units from 14,041 units a year ago.

Metro Manila and 38 other areas moved to Alert Level 1 at the beginning of March.

For the first quarter, combined CAMPI and TMA sales grew by 6.3 percent to 74,754 units from 70,312 in the same period last year.

PC sales declined by 16.2 percent to 18,323 units in the January to March period from 21,855 the previous year.

The CV segment, meanwhile, saw sales climb by 16.5 percent to 56,431 units as of end-March from 48,457 units in the same period a year ago.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the market leader in the first quarter with a 49.8 percent share.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. came in second with a 13.84 percent share, followed by Nissan Philippines Inc., which ranked third with a 7.87 percent share.

Taking the fourth spot was Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. with a 6.2 percent share, while Suzuki Philippines completed the top five with a 6.09 percent share.

Gutierrez said the local automotive industry remains cautiously optimistic about full recovery this year.

“At this point, it is crucial that we remain on guard against any potential risks in achieving full economic recovery, and pre-pandemic levels of business and consumer confidence at the same time,” he said.