Automakers see recovery as vehicle sales rise in May

MANILA, Philippines — Local vehicle assemblers see the road to recovery getting clearer despite nearly flat sales in the first five months of the year.

The joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released yesterday showed combined sales reached 142,185 units as of end-May, down by a mere 0.04 percent from 142,240 units in the same period last year.

Passenger car (PC) sales for the five-month period reached 42,886 units, 11 percent lower than the previous year’s 48,218 units.

Meanwhile, sales of commercial vehicles (CV) rose 5.6 percent to 99,299 units from 94,022 units a year ago.

“At the start of the year, we saw a big gap in sales versus last year.  As we move forward, we can see positive signs of recovery.  Our May year-to-date sales is already at par with last year’s figures. With stable economic trends, we are optimistic to end the year with market growth,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the top automotive firm in the first five months of the year with a 41.42 percent market share or 58,886 vehicles sold.

This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. which had an 18.21 percent market share and sales of 25,895 vehicles and Nissan Philippines Inc. with a 12.09 percent market share and sales of 17,188 vehicles.

In May alone, combined CAMPI and TMA sales increased 1.2 percent to 30,998 units from 30,620 units in the same month last year.

Sales of PCs in May declined 3.7 percent to 9,053 units from the previous year’s 9,401units.

CV sales, on the other hand, went up 3.4 percent to 21,945 units in May from 21,219 units in the same month a year ago.

Combined sales of CAMPI and TMA reached 357,410 units last year, 16 percent lower than the 425,673 units sold in 2017.

Consumer demand for cars was affected by the government’s move to impose higher taxes on automobiles last year.