Things are looking up in the automotive industry.
Car manufacturers are seeing modest growth in sales as they cap off the third quarter of the year with a 2.3 percent increase. Not exactly marginal considering that in terms of pesos and cents, the figures represent hundreds of millions from an industry which is proving to be one of the major drivers of the Philippine economy.
Combined truck and car sales for the third quarter chalked up 267, 364 units as against 261, 161 units for the same period last year.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) posted steady increases in removals.
CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez said that the sales growth ushered in the uptrend in sales for the last quarter.
“September is traditionally the start of an upward trend in sales as the public begin to spend for the holiday season,” Gutierrez said.
“Indeed, we welcome this positive growth as this is a good indicator of the increasing and widening demand for vehicles that has been the trademark of our industry,” Gutierrez said.
Sales of passenger cars however came as a dampener with a 1.1 percent decline to 83,317 units sold compared to the 81,182 units in 2018.
The sales slide was offset by the strong sales performance of the commercial vehicle segment—delivering 187,407 units, a 3.9 percent increase from 179,979 units posted for the same timeline last year.
Toyota Motor Philippines kepts its dominant position, carving out a hefty slice of the market with sales reaching 42.68 percent or 114,117 units sold from 2018’s 109,402 units.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines eked out 46,007 units for the first nine months this year, while Nissan Philippines sold 32,980 units for a 34.6 percent increase in sales.
Suzuki Philippines and Ford Philippines round off the top five performers with sales at 17,442 and 16,380 units.