Vehicle sales jumped by 40.9 percent in April to 24,149 units from 17,843 units in the same month last year despite the soaring petroleum prices, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Association of the Philippines said in a joint report Friday.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said the April sales performance reflected the containment of the pandemic, “underpinned by the improved consumer demand for big-ticket items compared with last year.”
“This has enabled the industry to achieve a double-digit growth of nearly 41 percent, albeit lower by 15.3 percent on a month-on-month basis,” he said.
The two industry groups reported combined sales of 29,685 units in March, up by 43.4 percent from the previous year and the highest since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Data showed that passenger car sales in April went up 12.4 percent to 6,259 units from 5,570 units a year ago, while commercial vehicle sales surged 53.9 percent to 18,890 units from 1,273 units as most local buyers continued to prefer larger and taller vehicles for family or commercial use.
CAMPI said that on a month-on-month basis, sales dropped across all segments by 5.52 percent for passenger cars from 6,625 units and by 18.1 percent for the commercial vehicles from 23,060 units.
Total sales in the first four months also grew by 13.3 percent to 99,903 units from 88,155 units in the same months in 2021.
Passenger car sales in the four-month period slowed down by 10.4 percent to 24,582 units from 26,425 units a year earlier while commercial vehicle sales climbed by 24 percent to 75,321 units from 60,730 units.
The top performing car firms from January to April were Toyota Motors Philippines which accounted for 50.99-percent market share, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 13.28 percent; and Nissan Philippines Inc. with 7.59 percent.
Completing the top five players were Suzuki Philippines Inc. with 6.3-percent market share and Ford Motor Company Phils. Inc. with 6.03 percent.
Gutierrez said the government’s growth forecast would shape the industry’s growth path.
“The government’s economic growth target of 7 to 9 percent this year, driven by the overall improvement in employment and domestic demand will play a critical role in the economy and the industry’s recovery alike,” Gutierrez said.
The country’s gross domestic product grew by 8.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
