Vehicle sales go up 23% in Q1
Vehicle sales in the country registered a 23-percent growth in the first three months of the year.
From 76,473 units sold in the first quarter of 2016, the number grew to 94,026, said the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) in a joint report.
“The Philippine automotive industry has, thus far, continued the path of motorization. While the first quarter performance gives us reason to be optimistic, we are still cautious about our own target for the year,” said CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez.
CAMPI and TMA expects combined sales to reach 400,500 units this year. Gutierrez marked 2016 as its banner year when it exceeded the groups’ target of 329,300 units to 359,572 actual sales, and coming from a lower base of 288,609 units for 2015.
For 2017, however, the automotive industry faces a challenge on excise tax as the Department of Finance (DOF) has proposed and submitted to Congress earlier this quarter the first tax reform package, which included increasing the current rates of excise taxes imposed on automobiles.
Under the DOF proposal, the tax on automobiles priced up to P600,000 is targeted to go up from two percent to four percent, while those priced from P600,000 to P1.1 million will be taxed at P24,000 (from the current P12,000) plus 40 percent (from the current 20 percent) of the amount in excess of P600,000.
Meanwhile, vehicles sold from P1.1 million to P2.1 million will be taxed at P224,000 (from today’s P112,000) plus 100 percent (from the current 40 percent) of the amount in excess of P1.1 million.
Markane Goho, Gateway Mo- tors president, previously said he expects car sales to go up this year, prior to the foreseen implementation of the tax reform package in 2018.
For the first quarter sales, CAMPI and TMA attribute the growth of the passenger car and commercial vehicle segments to attractive financing offers, new model introductions, and aggressive marketing promotions.
Passenger car sales grew by seven percent year-on-year, with sold units reaching 31,951. On the other hand, commercial vehicles posted a 33-percent increase to 62,075 units.
Commercial vehicles accounted for 66.02 percent of the total sales during the three-month period, while passenger cars made up 33.98 percent.