Vehicle sales sustained a double-digit growth in October on strong consumer demand, two industry groups said Thursday.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) said in a joint report their members sold 38,128 vehicles in October, up by 18.6 percent from 32,146 deliveries a year ago.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said the aggressive marketing activities and supply improvement across all brands sustained the automotive market’s growth.
“Consumer appetite is high, and sales are driven by continued pent-up demand, which is also supported by easier access to credit,” Gutierrez said.
Passenger car sales increased 21.6 percent in October to 10,087 from 8,294 units a year earlier, while commercial vehicles sales went up by 17.6 percent to 28,041 from 23, 852 units.
This brought total sales in the first 10 months of 2023 to 352,971 units, up by 25.9 percent from 280,300 vehicles sold in the same period in 2022.
Passenger car sales in the first 10 months climbed 31.8 percent to 90,096 from 68,352 units, while commercial vehicle sales went up by 24 percent to 262,875 from 211,948 units.
CAMPI earlier revised its 2023 sales forecast to 423,000 units, representing a 20-percent growth from the 2022 actual sales performance.
“We already achieved 83 percent of our 2023 forecast in October. With sustained demand, we are confident that we can achieve 423,000 units sales by year-end,” Gutierrez said.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. continued to dominate the automotive market with a 46-percent share, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 18.5 percent, Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. with 7.4 percent, Nissan Philippines Inc. with 6.3 percent and Suzuki Philippines Inc. with 4.3 percent.