CAMPI set to overtake 2015 sales target

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine automotive industry is seen overtaking its sales target this year and continue growing double-digits next year on sustained robust vehicle demand.

Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) president Rommel Gutierrez said the local automotive industry is projecting 2016 sales to grow 10 percent year-on-year to over 350,000 units.

For this year, Gutierrez said CAMPI expects to exceed the official industry sales target of 310,000 units.

“We will likely surpass the target of 310,000 units this year. We may hit 320,000 units,” he said.

Gutierrez said there is also a possibility the industry growth target of 10 percent next year would even increase after CAMPI conducts its mid-2016 review.

A joint report by CAMPI and Trucks Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed vehicle sales of local assemblers surged 23 percent in the January to November period this year to 261,930 units compared to 213,427 units sold in the same period last year.

CAMPI and TMA sales consist 85 to 90 percent of total vehicle sales in the Philippines while the remaining comes from members of the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID).

Growth drivers for vehicle sales next year will be new models to be introduced as well as the election period, said Dante Santos, first vice president of CAMPI-member Mitsubishi Motors Philippines.

“Major companies here will introduce more models. Every country that supplies automotive always look at a country’s basic economic growth rate.  Investments on a certain country are dependent on whether that economy is expanding. Why invest if that country is not growing? So for the Philippines, they see that the country is indeed growing,” Santos said.

“So what we see is still continuous growth for next year, the degree of growth may be the only one varying. What we see is that the industry will grow by 10 percent because it will have to cater to the massive transportation requirements, especially in the provinces,” he added.

Santos said sport utility vehicles would continue to dominate sales across all brands in the country.

Micro vehicles or small cars, meanwhile, are also gaining popularity among Filipino buyers, he said.

Santos said the only challenge for the Philippine automotive industry next year is how it would be able to adapt to the entry of a new administration.

“We will have a new set of governance that will establish the mid term development plan. So we will see if there is a need to adjust but otherwise, we don’t see any external or international challenge for the industry,” he said.