Vehicle sales seen to surge by almost 40% in August

Vehicle sales in August may have risen by 39.5 percent from the 13,700 units sold in the same month of 2013, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) said on Thursday.

Based on the chamber’s estimates, this would place vehicle sales last month at a little over 19,100 units, which would add to the 129,687 units sold from January to July this year.

The full sales results are expected to be released Friday, Campi said.

The continued growth in local automotive sales bodes well for an industry that is expecting total sales for 2014 to reach 250,000 units, driven largely by the steady rise in both local demand and purchasing power of Filipino consumers.

“Last year, the industry soared beyond the 200,000 mark in total vehicle sales—something we have not achieved until today. We are putting our hopes even higher this year as we revise our 2014 forecast to at least 250,000 units—up 9 percent over the original 230,000 units announced in January,” Campi president Rommel Gutierrez earlier said.

Gutierrez said the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines recently came out with “Vision 2020,” where sales were targeted to reach the 500,000-unit mark in the next six years.

“In reaching this target, we are guided by the growing domestic demand for automobiles, fueled by a steady growth in income. The strong domestic market potential is shown by the fact that the Philippines, with a population of 100 million, has a vehicle ownership ratio of only 35 per 1000 population, much lower than those of its Asean neighbors,” he earlier explained.

“As the Philippines already reached a GDP per capita of $2,790 in 2013, higher than the motorization threshold income of $2,500, we are confident that this potential will translate to reality soon. This vision can only be achieved with the right policy direction and government intervention through the issuance of the much-awaited automotive industry roadmap,” Gutierrez had said.  Amy R. Remo