Vehicle assemblers post record sales

Ford Philippines kicked off the fourth quarter with a record performance in October as sales hit 2,892 units, up 48 percent from the same month last year.

This brought Ford’s total sales in the first 10 months of the year to 19,573 units—an impressive run that was driven largely by a strong demand for the all-new Everest, Ranger and EcoSport nameplates, the company said in a statement Friday.

“Our strong momentum continues throughout the year as we give our customers more ways to connect with the Ford brand and our segment-leading vehicles. Our growth story this year is one that we are truly proud of, and this would not have been possible if not for the strong partnership and teamwork between our employees and dealer partners,” explained Ford Philippines managing director Kay Hart.

Sales of the all-new Everest grew by more than 200 percent in October to 1,140 units while that of the new Ranger pickup reached 796 units in the same month.

The popularity of the EcoSport also continued in October as sales of the compact urban SUV hit 676 units, while the premium Explorer delivered 68 units last month.

Other automotive firms also posted record performances in October as demand for passenger cars and commercial vehicles continued its strong rally.

Isuzu Philippines Corp. reported that it breached the 200,000-unit sales mark last month since the local assembler for the Japanese car brand started operations in the country in 1996. According to IPC, the company sold a total of 201,777 units between 1996 and October 2015, with sales being led largely by the Isuzu Crosswind.

Data from IPC showed that sales of Isuzu Crosswind reached 85,308 units since it was introduced in the country in 2001. In its first year in the market, Crosswind sales hit 5,423 units.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) also broke a new record in October as vehicle sales hit 5,398 units, the highest tally posted by the automotive firm on a monthly basis. This would be the third consecutive month that MMPC was able to break its record sales.