PH vehicle sales growth slowed in February

Cars are lined up at the Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. in Laguna Techno Park, Sta. Rosa, Laguna province. Japanese brands dominated sales in February. —FILE PHOTO

Vehicle sales in the Philippines continued to grow by double digits in February, albeit at a slower pace compared to the previous month’s, driving the local industry’s hopes of overtaking prepandemic levels.

A joint report from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released on Monday showed that vehicle sales reached 30,905 units, growing by 27.2 percent compared to the 24,304 units sold in the same month a year ago.

Even if the pace slowed down from the January growth rate of 42.1 percent, Campi president Rommel Gutierrez characterized the February posting as a clear indicator of a “continuously progressing auto industry from the course of the pandemic.”

Optimistic

“Members of Campi and TMA remain optimistic that it will further grow by 10 percent to 15 percent, heading toward the 395,000-unit sales mark this 2023 from the actual sales of 352,596 units recorded last year,” said Gutierrez.

“Favorable various economic indicators are prevailing, leading to improving the overall outlook of the economy alongside increasing consumer demand for new motor vehicles,” he added.February’s performance puts the year-to-date figure to 60,404 vehicle units, which is equivalent to a 34-percent growth from the comparable two-month period in 2022.

The industry hopes to surpass the sales levels seen during the two years before the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Vehicle sales hit 357,410 units in 2018 and 369,941 units in 2019, before tumbling to 223,793 units in 2020 due to the dire economic effects and restrictions caused by the health crisis.

Gradual recovery

The industry has since shown signs of a gradual recovery, with sales reaching 268,488 units in 2021 and 352,596 in 2022.In terms of brands, Japanese car brands still dominated the Philippine market in February, led by Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. which had a 48.12-percent market share, equivalent to 14,871 units sold.

It was followed by the Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. which sold 5,626 units, garnering an 18.20-percent market share.

Ford Motor Co. Philippines, Inc.—the only non-Japanese brand—stood at third place with a 6.68-percent market share after selling 2,064 units.

Nissan Philippines Inc. and Suzuki Philippines Inc. took the last two spots in the top five list, with their market shares of 5.36 percent and 4.73 percent, respectively. INQ