Car sales overtake 2017 target

MANILA, Philippines — Vehicle sales drove past the industry’s target last year, accelerating by 18.4 percent to 425,673 units, a joint report by local assemblers showed.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released yesterday their combined sales data, which showed 2017 rollouts overtaking the full year target of 400,500 units and the actual sales figure of 359,572 units in 2016.

Combined with the sales of the member firms of the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, the entire automotive industry has targeted 450,000 unit sales for 2017.

“We ended 2017 on a positive note. Aggressive promos, new model updates and the hard work of members helped contribute to expanding the Philippine market,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

The passenger car segment ended 2017 with 139,424 units sold, up 4.7 percent from 2016’s 133,188 units.

The commercial vehicles segment, which accounted for bulk of sales, registered a 26.4 percent jump last year with 286,249 units sold.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the most dominant player in the market with a 43.2-percent share, followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. with 17.29 percent.

At third place is Ford Motor Co. with 8.6 percent market share, trailed by Honda Cars Philippines Inc. and Isuzu Philippines Corp. with 7.46 percent and 7.07 percent, respectively.

“While exceeding our sales target for the year, we remain cautious in our projection for 2018.  CAMPI remains confident that the market will be able to adjust to the new auto excise tax in 2018,“ Gutierrez said.