Vehicle sales jumped 24.6 percent last year to 359,572 units from 288,609 units in 2015, amid the expansion of the automotive market and introduction of new models, two industry groups said Tuesday.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association said in a joint report the 2016 sales also exceeded the two groups’ target of 329,300 units for the year.
“We are very glad that we were able to surpass the target this year. Successful introductions of new models complemented by various events and promotions enabled us to meet the increasing customers’ demands in an expanding Philippine market,” said Campi president Rommel Gutierrez.
The 2016 figure excluded the sales of Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. Campi said it was positive the combined industry sales with the vehicle importers group would meet the 2016 target of 370,000 units.
The passenger car segment sold 133,188 units in 2016, up by 14.4 percent from the 2015 total sales of 116,381 units. The commercial vehicles segment sold 226,384 units, representing a 31.4-percent increase from 172,228 units sold in 2015.
Campi said month-on-month sales went up 3.5 percent to 34,104 units in December from 32,996 units in November. The December figure also increased 27.8 percent from 26,679 units sold a year ago.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the top seller with 44.14-percent share of the market. Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. captured 17.08-percent market share while Ford Motor Company registered 9.37-percent market share.
Isuzu Philippines Corporation was fourth with 7.61 percent, followed by Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with 6.45 percent.
Campi and TMP have yet to set their sales targets for 2017. Under the government’s automotive program, the automotive industry is expected to breach the 500,000 units sales by 2018.
The automotive industry cited the country’s strong growth potential as nearly half of Filipino households remained carless.
The automotive sector accounts for 12 percent of the industrial output and 4 percent of the gross domestic product.
