Vehicle sales zoom to record level in Q1

The country’s vehicle assemblers posted record sales in the first quarter as demand for passenger cars (PC) and commercial vehicles (CV) continued to be strong.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) said in a statement yesterday its combined sales with the Truck Manufacturers Association, Inc. (TMA) hit 62,882 units in the January to March period this year, breaching the 60,000 unit mark for the first time.

Compared to the 51,722 units sold in the first quarter last year, this year’s result went up by 22 percent.

The PC segment which now accounts for 40 percent of total sales from 38 percent previously, sold 25,051 units in the first quarter this year, a 38-percent uptick from the 18,127 units in 2014.

“As projected during the industry planning session conducted for 2015, demand from the BPO (business process outsourcing) market has boosted the sale of the sub-compact segment. Industry continues to respond with the right product mix and very attractive financing package to meet this demand,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

The CV segment which had a 60-percent share of total sales, sold 37,831 units, a 13-percent increase from the 33,595 units in the previous year.

Gutierrez attributed this growth to a move by the public utility sector to purchase new vehicles in compliance with the government’s refleeting program.

Japan’s Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. maintained its position as top car brand for the first quarter with its 44.2 percent share of the market.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., another Japanese firm, came in second with its 18.8- percent share, followed by American carmaker Ford Philippines with its 8.4-percent share.

Placing fourth and fifth were Japanese companies Isuzu Philippines Corp. and Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. with respective market shares of 7.9 percent and 6.3 percent.

For the month of March alone, CAMPI and TMA’s combined sales rose by 23 percent to reach 23,557 units this year from 19,216 units a year ago.

PC sales for the month of March climbed by 35 percent to 9,702 units this year from 7,182 units in the same month in 2014.

The CV segment also sold more vehicles this year at 13,855 units, climbing by 15 percent from last year’s 12,034 units.

Given the latest sales result, the industry is upbeat total vehicles sales in the country will hit the 310,000 units targeted for the year.

Total vehicle sales in the country, including those sold by non-CAMPI members reached 269,058 units last year.