Holidays give hope to PH automakers

The Philippine automotive industry is optimistic that consumer spending will pick up as the holiday season approaches, driving growth and tempering any fallout from the weakening of the peso.

Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) president Rommel Gutierrez said they expect vehicle sales to accelerate during the final months of 2022.

“Normally December or [toward] the end of the year, sales pick up. We hope that this would continue,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the opening day of the 8th Philippine International Motor Show at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Gutierrez added that they were set to hit their target number of 336,000 vehicle units for this year after achieving 67.5 percent of their mark as of last month.

“The supply is improving, the consumer confidence is there, and of course, we have a lot of marketing promos being implemented,” he said further, noting strong 2022 sales figures.

The Campi official said the recent declines in the Philippine peso will adversely affect the local automotive industry since it increases import costs of car parts and other components.

“Definitely it has an effect on our operations because we still import a lot of parts and components, and even completely built-up units. So, any change in the forex definitely [has] an impact on the auto industry,” said Gutierrez.

Gutierrez said the automobile industry benefits little from the decline of the local currency as the export aspects of the entire sector only constitutes about 5 percent of the whole.

“The exports of the auto industry only involve parts and components. We do not export completely built-up units. So, it’s not as big as the imports we do,” he said further.