Uber and Grab boost car sales
CEBU, Philippines - Car sales is expected to sustain its momentum this year now that more people are buying cars to earn a living as Uber and Grab drivers.
Carmudi Philippines managing director Abhishek Mohan said that small sedan cars — such as those of Toyota, Mitsubishi and Kia — saw an uptick in sales last year due to the rising number of people wanting to buy cars to become drivers of these transportation network vehicle services (TNVS).
He cited Toyota Vios and Mitsubishi Mirage as among those in demand for this purpose.
Recently, there has been a growing interest among those who own cars and those who are still planning to buy to work for car services app Uber and Grab because of income potential.
He said this is just one side of the projected continued growth in car sales.
"There are other factors contributing to the growth. Our growing young middle class. It's a mixed of a vibrant economy, increasing disposable income, and people still see buying a car as an aspirational value," Mohan said.
He, however, said that policy moves and infrastructure plan of the government will generally will play a role into this growth.
In 2016, car sales grew 24.6 percent in 2016 to 359,572 units up from the 288,609 units sold in 2015, based on joint data by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).
The sales total beat the 2016 industry target of 329,300 units by 12.36 percent.
Mohan said the industry may break the 400,000-mark in unit sales this year.
“We are very glad that we were able to surpass the target this year. Successful introductions of new models complemented by various events and promotions enabled us to meet the increasing customer demand in an expanding Philippine market,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez had said in a statement.
Toyota Motor Philippines remained the top seller 6, with 44.14 percent share of the market. Mitsubishi Motor Philippines followed with 17.08 percent, while Ford Motor Co. had a 9.37 percent share. Isuzu Philippines Corp. had 7.61 percent followed by Honda Cars Philippines with 6.45 percent. (FREEMAN)
- Latest
