Car, Truck Manufacturers' Groups Gain Momentum

The car and truck manufacturers’ group announced that sales are slowly coming strong as they culminate the third quarter of the year.

According to the joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), sales for the past nine months (January-September) posted a steady increase. Based on their joint report, the group enjoyed a 2.38 percent increase, rolling out 267,364 units compared to the 261,161 units for the same period last year.

On these figures, sales for passenger cars are suffering a slowdown, suffering a 1.1 percent decline, selling only 83,317 units, unlike the 81,182 for the same duration back in 2018.

The slight decline was buffered 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.

The top seller for the group is still Toyota Motor Philippines, holding the lion's share on sales (42.68 percent) with 114,117 units sold (4.3 percent increase from 2018’s 109,402 units).

Following Toyota are Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, who suffered a 9.1 percent blow out, selling only 46,007 units for the first nine months this year, and Nissan Philippines with 32,980 units delivered and gaining 34.6 percent in year-to-date sales figures.

On fourth and fifth spot are Suzuki Philippines and Ford Philippines, selling 17,442 and 16,380 units respectively.

The group is positive that the automotive sector will post continuous positive growth until the end of the year.

CAMPI President Atty. Rommel Gutierrez said that the sales gain was expected as they country approaches last quarter of the year.

"September is traditionally the start of an upward trend in sales as the public begin to spend for the upcoming holiday season," he 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. We are optimistic that the industry is well-positioned and prepared to progressively get back on track towards strong positive growth in the coming months."