Auto sales up 11.5% in 9 mos

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) jointly reported Friday that automotive sales from January to September this year increased 11.5 percent with 71,936 units sold for the nine months in review compared to sales of only 64,523 units sold from January to September last year.

Accounting for the overall increase in automotive sales was a 10.5-percent growth in commercial vehicle sales and a 12.1-percent increase in passenger car sales.

Commercial vehicle sales from January to September this year amounted to 45,168 units as compared to only 40,290 units sold for the comparable first nine months last year.

According to CAMPI and TMA, the 11- percent growth in commercial vehicle sales was due to sustained new model sales from the pickup and compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) segments.

Passenger car sales for the nine months in review posted a 10.5-percent growth with total sales of 26,768 units from January to September this year as against only 24,233 units sold for the comparable first nine months of 2004.

The CAMPI-TMA attributed the increase in passenger car sales to continued aggressive marketing and financing promos.

Overall sales are expected to be maintained in the coming months.

Sales of Asian utility vehicles (AUV)posted a healthy increase of 21.6 percent with 20,090 units sold compared to only 16,517 units sold for the first eight months of 2004.

Light commercial vehicles (LCV) sales for the same nine months period posted a marginal increase of 5.2 percent.

Light Truck sales for the nine month period showed a 2.6 percent growth, while sales of trucks and buses also posted a growth of 34.6 percent.