Strong consumer appetite for vehicles continued during the second half of the year as auto sales slightly rose for the month of July.
“For buyers, the second half of the year will prove to be much more exciting with auto players launching more new models, a number of which will be launched at the ongoing 1st Philippine International Motor Show organized by CAMPI (Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc.) on Aug. 9-12 at the World Trade Center,” Elizabeth H. Lee, CAMPI president said.
In July, which sales went up by two percent to 9,932 units from 9,737 in June.
The continued growth coupled with a strong half year performance will help the industry reach its goal to finally breach the 100,000 sales mark. As of end July, total industry sales is already over 60,000 units.
“2007 will prove to be the year that the auto industry accelerates to higher growth that should be sustained in the coming years,” Lee explained.
As in the other months, in July, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. still captured the biggest share of total auto sales with 31.64-percent market share.
Far second was Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with 17.09 percent while Mitsubishi Motors Philippines was third with 12.72 percent.
Data showed that there were more commercial vehicles sold than passenger cars. Commercial vehicle sales make up 68 percent of the sales while the remaining 32 percent is passenger cars. CAMPI and TMA explained that the popularity of using vehicles in business is catching on with sales of pickups, vans, and Asian Utility Vehicles (AUV) growing at a faster pace.
Sales of passenger cars inched down in July to 3,218 from 3,263 in June mainly due to due to low stock levels of new models launched. CAMPI said the decline is “negligible”.
For two straight months, Honda beat Toyota in monthly passenger car sales by selling 1,334 cars cornering 41.45 percent of the market while Toyota sold 582 cars representing 18.09 percent market share. Third is Ford Motor Company Phils. with 7.77 percent while Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. is fourth at 7.55 percent. General Motors Automobiles Phils. was fifth at an even five percent.
Meanwhile, commercial vehicle sales for July grew by four percent at 6,714 from 6,474. The industry is expecting sales to continue to pick up in the coming months as the buyers are given more options and dealers are offering competitive financing promos.
Commercial vehicle segment continues to be the driver of growth for the total auto industry Toyota was the leader in commercial vehicle sales getting 38.13 percent of the market share as it sold 2,560 vehicles. Second was Mitsubishi at 17.08 percent translating to 1147 units sold. Third was Isuzu Philippines Corp. getting 12.39 percent at 832 units followed by Hyundai at 8.12 percent. Ford was fifth at 6.61 percent.