CAMPI, Toyota eye hike in sales forecast

MANILA, Philippines - The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the country’s top automotive seller Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) may hike their sales forecast for this year given the positive sales performance in the first two months of the year.

CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez told reporters the group is reviewing its forecast for the country’s total vehicle sales this year.

“We may raise the forecast of 230,000 units by the middle of the year because of good January and February results,” he said.

CAMPI sold a total of 32,470 units as of end-February, 21 percent higher than the 26,742 units in the comparable period last year.

Sales of the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. (AVID) meanwhile grew 18 percent to 5,866 units in the January to February period from 4,963 units a year ago.

The country’s total vehicle sales reached around 212,000 units last year.

TMPC president Michinobu Sugata told reporters during the launch of the third generation Yaris the firm is also considering revising upward its sales goal of about 90,000 units this year.

“For the first two months, the market is quite encouraging,” he said.

As of end-February, TMPC’s sales rose 31 percent to reach 13,988 units from the 10,659 units in the comparable period last year.

Sugata said TMPC has been successful in the first two months of the year citing the market’s warm reception of its three newly launched vehicles the Corolla Altis, Innova and Wigo.

He noted that reservations for the affordable Wigo hatchback, which is just a month old, have already reached 2,000 units.

The company also expects its sales to get a further boost from the third generation Yaris which was unveiled Monday night.

TMPC aims to sell 150 units of the fashion-forward Yaris per month.

The Yaris hatchback which is bigger than the Wigo, would be imported from Thailand and would be available in seven colors at a price range of P720,000 to P845,000.

“We’d like to capture young and fashionable buyers for Yaris,” Sugata said.

Of all the vehicle models sold by TMPC, only the Vios and Innova are locally-assembled.

Sugata said any decision to manufacture additional vehicle models in the Philippines would depend on the incentives offered by the government under the industry road map.

Last year, TMPC’s sales hit an all-time high of 75,587 units.