PH sustains car sales, production momentum

By: Alden M. Monzon - 3 months ago

Sales of automotive vehicles in the Philippines sustained growth for the sixth straight month in July in line with the momentum seen in local car production.

A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association on Thursday showed that 39,331 new vehicles were sold in July, increasing by 6.1 percent from the 37,086 units sold in the same month in 2023.

READ: Hike in PH vehicle sales quickened to 7.6% in June

“New product launches, improved product offerings, good sales momentum, as well as supply availability helped neutralize the impact of Typhoon ‘Carina,’ especially towards the latter part of July,” Campi president Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement.

The July data brought the overall vehicle sales from January to date to 265,610 units, marking a 10.9-percent growth compared with the 239,501 units sold in the same seven-month period in 2023.

Data from the two automotive industry groups also showed that the commercial vehicles segment continued to drive the industry’s performance, accounting for 72.23 percent of total in July, equivalent to 28,408 units. Passenger cars accounted for the remaining 10,923 units, or 27.77 percent.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the dominant player in July with a 43.38-percent market share. It was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 19.23 percent, Ford Group Philippines with 18.16 percent, Nissan Philippines with 4.99 percent and Isuzu Philippines with 5.3 percent.

Vehicle production

Meanwhile, local vehicle manufacturing output also improved in June albeit at a pace slower than in the preceding month.

Data released on Thursday by the Asean Automotive Federation, an umbrella group of industry associations from member economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, showed an output expansion of nearly 15 percent in the Philippines even as most of its peers experienced varying degrees of decline.

READ: PH vehicle production revved up by 22.8% in May

AAF data showed that 10,288 units of new automotive vehicles were produced in the Philippines in June, growing by 14.6 percent from the past year. However, the expansion was slower than the annual growth rate of 22.8 percent in May and the 22.9 percent in April. The June performance brought the Philippines’ year-to-date output to 64,333 units, marking a 13.4 percent annual growth.

From a regional perspective, the Philippines was one of two countries among the six in the list that posted growth during the month.

Thailand was still the biggest producer, manufacturing 116,289 vehicle units –more than 10 times the Philippine volume — even as it suffered a 20.1-percent contraction during the month. Indonesia remained in second place, with a production output of 95,502 units as output declined by 16.9 percent.

Malaysia and Vietnam took the third and fourth spots, producing 49,811 units and 12,457 units, respectively, down by 14.2 percent and 12.1 percent.

Myanmar, the only other country that experienced growth amid its relatively small production number, increased output by 60.7 percent to 225 units.

In total, the six countries produced a total 284,572 units during the month, down 16.7 percent from a year ago. This brought the cumulative year-to-date output of these six Asean countries to about 1.85 units, 12.7 percent lower.

The Philippines’ monthly production of motorcycles and scooters declined slightly by 2.6 percent in June to 108,346 units from the last year. This brought the country’s six-month production of these two-wheeled vehicles to 652,374 units, down 4 percent. Indonesia was still the biggest producer of two-wheelers during the month, with an output of 554,037 units, followed by Thailand with 156,598 units.