Vehicle sales zoomed 30% to 234K units in 2014

The Philippine automotive sector continued its strong rally throughout 2014 as vehicle sales rose 30 percent to 234,747 units from 181,283 units in 2013.

In a statement, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) explained that this record performance was backed by robust sales in all product categories.

“This growth in the passenger car sales was largely fueled by the successful introduction of several new models and wider acceptance of small car product category,” said Campi president Rommel Gutierrez.

According to Campi, the passenger car segment exhibited the highest growth rate of 48 percent with sales of 90,287 units compared to the total sales of 61,083 units in 2013.

The commercial vehicle segment also performed well with a sizeable increase of 20 percent to 144,460 units in 2014 compared to 120,200 units sold in 2013.

Within the commercial vehicle category, light commercial vehicles showed a significant volume increase of 26 percent with sales of 93,589 units for 2014 compared to the 74,398 units sold in 2013.

Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. remained the biggest player with a 45-percent market share, while Mitsubishi Motors ended the year in second with a 21-percent share. Ford climbed to third with 8.7 percent while Isuzu finished fourth with 6 percent. Honda completed the top five with 5.7 percent.

For 2015, the Campi-TMA group expected sales to reach 272,000, or an additional volume of 37,000 units for a projected growth rate of at least 16 percent. This was on the back of continued improvement of the economy, increased government spending in preparation for next year’s national election and the positive impact of the projected continued decline in world fuel prices.

Of this volume, passenger cars and commercial vehicles will take up 40 percent and 60 percent respectively.

Gutierrez expressed confidence that the 2015 total industry demand could easily exceed 300,000 units.

For 2014, locally assembled vehicles accounted for only 37 percent while imported vehicles captured 63 percent.

In terms of product category, the small car passenger segment will continue to attract more buyers this year particularly the young professionals comprising the growing BPO industry. The industry also projects a bigger demand for SUV and light commercial vehicles mainly due to the worsening weather pattern.

“Many consumers now see the need as well as practicality of owning SUVs and similar higher vehicles to combat the floods. Dropping oil prices, wider product selection at competitive prices and improved fuel efficiency of higher displacement vehicles are providing the additional push especially to those who are considering a second vehicle purchase,” Gutierrez said.