Vehicle sales slightly increased 0.8 percent in April to 25,799 units from 25,583 units delivered in the same month last year, two industry groups said Tuesday.
Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association showed while demand for commercial vehicles increased, sales of passenger cars declined during the month.
“April recorded a year-on-year growth of 0.8 percent, selling 25,799 units against 25,583 units during the same period last year. Sales last month remain erratic on a monthly basis, but we expect that positive growth trend on a yearly basis will continue to improve in the coming months,” said Campi president Rommel Gutierrez.
Sales of commercial vehicles climbed 15.7 percent in April led by the light commercial vehicle segment that grew 35.4 percent to 14,954 units from 11,045 units.
Passenger car sales fell 22.7 percent to 7,661 units from 9,910 units because of higher excise taxes, the industry groups said.
Data showed that on a month-on-month basis, sales plunged 19.8 percent from 32,173 vehicles sold in April. Sales of passenger cars went down 16.85 percent while demand for commercial vehicles fell 21 percent on a monthly basis.
Campi said that despite the slight year-on-year growth in April, total sales in the first four months dropped 0.4 percent to 111,187 units from 112,620 units delivered in the same period in 2018.
Toyota Motor Philippines remained the industry leader with a 44.5-percent market share in April. It was followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. with 17.88 percent and Nissan Philippines Inc. with 8.17 percent.
Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. was fourth with 8.12 market share while Honda Cars Philippines Inc. was fifth with 3.55 percent.
The industry was originally expecting a 10-percent growth in sales this year.