PH AUTOMOTIVE SALES HIT 37,474 UNITS IN MARCH

The Philippine automotive industry sold nearly 37,500 units in March, lower than the previous month, to bring the year-to-date sales to almost 110,000 units, data released by local manufacturers on Monday showed.

A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) show that new motor vehicle sales climbed to 37,474 units in March.

This is 1.6% higher than the sales in February 2023, bringing the year-to-date sales to 109,606 units to reflect a 12.7% increase from 97,284 units sold in the first quarter of the past year.

“YTD sales performance was driven by sustained demand for new vehicles, supported by overall supply improvement. Our Q1 performance keeps us on track to achieve our 2024 target,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said in an accompanying statement.

The group earlier said it expects sales to grow by 9% to 468,000 units this year from the 429,807 units sold in 2023, and this might increase to 500,000 as CAMPI hosts the Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) later this year.

The monthly sales, however, was lower than the 38,072 units sold in February, as declines were reported in the unit sales of four segments — commercial vehicles down 3.8% to 27,347 units, light commercial vehicles down 5.3% to 20,101 units, light-duty trucks and buses down 13.4% to 447 units, and heavy-duty trucks and buses down 26.2% to 45 units.

Monthly increases were seen in passenger car sales up 5.07% to 10,127 units, Asian utility vehicles by 1.0% to 6,421 units, and medium-duty trucks and buses by 27.6% to 333 units.

In terms of brands, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. continued to have the biggest share in terms of sales with 45.31%, followed Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 19.04%, Nissan Philippines Inc. with 7.22%, Ford Group Philippines with 6.87%, and Suzuki Philippines Inc. with 4.01%. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News

This article PH automotive sales hit 37,474 units in March was originally published in GMA News Online.

2024-04-22T09:11:58Z dg43tfdfdgfd