Car, truck sales surged in March by 88%, biggest jump since pandemic hit

Car and truck manufacturers saw their sales increase by nearly 88 percent last March to 20,702 units, marking their largest year-on-year increase since the start of the pandemic last year and despite the imposition of a safeguard tax on imported cars.

Vehicle sales increased 87.7 percent last March from the 11,029 units sold in March 2020, according to the joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).

This brings their volume sales to a total of 70,312 units in the first quarter of 2021, a modest 8.9-percent increase from the comparative period last year. Nevertheless, Campi noted in its statement on Tuesday that Campi and TMA sales for March alone still fell 21.1 percent when compared to the Feb. 2021 sales.

Campi President Rommel Gutierrez attributed the month-on-month sales decline to the imposition of the provisional safeguard duty, as well as the recent enhanced community quarantine, which limited mobility and operations in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. inq