Commercial vehicles buoy auto industry performance

OVERALL supply improvement and sustained demand for cars propelled vehicle sales in the first quarter, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi).

Auto sales in January to March reached 109,606 units, up 12.7 percent from 97,284 units recorded in the same period last year, the joint report of Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association ( TMA) showed.

“YTD [year- to- date] sales performance was driven by sustained demand for new vehicles, supported by overall supply improvement.

Our first quarter performance keeps us on track to achieve our 2024 target,” Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement on Monday.

The auto sales sold in the first quarter represents 23 percent of Campi’s “conservative” forecast of 468,300 units in 2024.

While the auto industry closed the first quarter with a “strong performance,” Campi noted that car sales declined on a month-on-month basis in March when the industry sold 37,474 units or,1.6 percent lower than the 38,072 sold in February.

Across vehicle segments, Campi noted that commercial vehicles continued to drive industry performance, reaching 81,935 units in the three- month period or 74.26 percent of the vehicle sales pie in the January to March 2024 period.

Under this category, light commercial vehicles drove sales with 60,302 units or 74 percent share of the commercial vehicle sales, but the multipurpose vehicle ( MPV)/ Asian utility vehicle ( AUV) subsegment posted the highest increase at 27 percent.

Passenger car sales, meanwhile, reached 28,211 units or 25.74 percent of the total vehicle units sold in the first three months of the year.

Among car brands, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. continued to lead automotive sales with a 45.31 percent share (49,667 units) in the three- month period, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with a 19.04- percent share (20,867 units) and Nissan Philippines Inc. with 7.22 percent (7,909 units).

Gutierrez had said that the auto industry group expects new model introductions and the expansion of the electrified vehicle line-up especially in the hybrid electric vehicle segment and more brands coming into the market this year.

The local automotive industry is targeting to increase auto sales by 9 percent this year to attain its “conservative” forecast of 468,300 vehicle units.

In 2023, Campi reported that auto sales reached 429,807 units, up 21.9 percent from the 352,596 units sold in 2022.