Vehicle sales up 24.5%

The Philippine automotive industry sustained its stellar performance in the first 10 months of the year, with vehicle sales hitting 292,502 units during the period.

This was a 24.5-percent increase from the 234,951 units sold from January to October last year, according to joint data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).

For October alone, vehicle sales grew 8.6 percent to 31,132 units.

“With continuous marketing efforts and attractive deals from our brand principals, auto sales performance continues to be strong at the beginning of fourth quarter. We expect the market demand to remain robust until the end of the year,” Campi president Rommel Gutierrez said.

Campi and TMA data showed that both the passenger car and commercial vehicle segments continued to post increases in sales since January this year.

Sales of passenger cars, however, grew at a slower pace of 2.3 percent to 11,499 units in October, bringing the total number of vehicles sold in this segment to 108,535 units in the first 10 months.

Local automotive players, meanwhile, sold 19,633 units of commercial vehicles in October, a 12.6-percent increase compared to the same month last year.

From January to October this year, sales of commercial vehicles rose 31.7 percent to 183,967 units.

Within the CV segment, most categories performed significantly.

Year-on-year, AUVs posted a 42.4 percent gain with sales hitting 6,231 units in October, while heavy duty trucks and buses saw sales growing by 53.2 percent to 193 units for October. –Amy R. Remo