Vehicle industry sales surge 36% in first 9 months

MANILA, Philippines – Vehicle sales in the first three quarters soared 35.9 percent to 129,901 units.

This prompted the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. to boost its full-year sales target to 170,000-175,000 units, from the original target of 165,000 units.

According to data from Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association, sales in September alone, reached 14,447 units, a 27.8-percent jump from the 11,304 units sold in the same period in 2009.

With sales averaging more than 14,000 units a month, Campi expressed confidence that the industry would be able to breach the all-time high sales of 162,000 units registered in 1996.

To achieve the industry target of 170,000-175,000 units, sales should average between 13,400 and 15,000 units in the remaining three months of the year.

This was the third time for the industry to jack up its growth target, which was initially placed at only 4 percent at the start of the year and then revised to 11 percent at the end of the first half.

“Sales for the last quarter should remain healthy as consumer and business confidence remains steady,” Lee said, citing overseas Filipino worker remittances, attractive and readily available financing packages, and aggressive promotions to continue to drive vehicle sales through the end of the year.

As in previous quarters, commercial vehicles accounted for the bulk of auto sales during the period at 82,497 units, a 36.9-percent jump from the previous year’s 60,257 units.

The strongest sub-segment in the first nine months was still the light commercial vehicles—composed of pickup trucks, vans, compact wagons, and full-size sport utility vehicles—which posted a sales increase of 43.3 percent to 53,112 units, from the 37,054 units sold a year ago.

Passenger car sales also showed healthy growth, soaring 34 percent to 44,404 units, from last year’s 33,128 units

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. held on to the top spot, selling 41,281 vehicles in the January-September period for a 32.5-percent share of the market.

On second place was Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 23,998 units in sales and an 18.9-percent share of the pie in the first three quarters.

Rounding up the top three was Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. with a market share of 12.3 percent on sales of 15,575 units as of the end of September. –Abigail L. Ho, Philippine Daily Inquirer