Auto manufacturers post 7.5% year-on-year growth in February

By Aida Sevilla-Mendoza March 15,2017

After reporting a record-setting 27.8 percent year-on-year sales growth in January 2017, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) posted 7.5 percent growth in February 2017 compared to the same month last year.

A report issued jointly by CAMPI and TMA declared February 2017 sales were 27,040 units compared to 25,150 units i n the same year-ago month.

CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said that although the February 2017 sales growth was modest compared to the previous month due to supply limitations and fewer calendar days, the auto industry still continues to serve and satisfy market demand.

It was noted that most segments performed well last month except for Passenger Car (PC) sales which dropped 7.2 percent to 9,114 units from 9,819 units in February 2016.

In contrast, sales of Commercial Vehicles (CV) rose 16.9 percent from 15,331 units sold in February 2016 to 17,296 units sold last month.

Magic 5 Circle

The same players made the February 2017 Top 10 Performers list (see tabulation) as in January 2017, but last month there was a major reshuffle in the Magic 5 Circle: Isuzu beat Ford in sales to gain third place while Honda overtook Ford to take fourth place, and Nissan kept the fifth spot.

Ford was pushed out of the Magic 5 Circle to sixth place.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMP) remained on top, although it sold less (12,615) units in February 2017 compared to 14,542 units in January 2017. The decrease slightly reduced Toyota’s market share to 47.26 percent from a high of 47.8 percent in January 2017.

The Vios displaced the Fortuner as TMP’s best-selling nameplate last month with 2,899 units sold versus 2,100 Fortuners sold.

2nd place: Mitsubishi

TMP’s 47.26 percent market share is still much higher than second placer Mitsubishi’s 16.68 percent. Last month, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) sold 4,745 units compared to 4,870 in February 2016.

The slight decline in sales could be due to the limited supply of Mitsubishi’s best-selling models. For example, sales of the Mirage G4, which hit 955 units in January 2017, plunged to 443 last month perhaps because supply could not meet demand.

That problem will be resolved soon, now that MMPC has rolled out its first locally produced Mirage that was presented to President Rodrigo Duterte during a grand ceremony with him the other week as guest of honor at Malacañang Palace.

The Mirage is MMPC’s entry in the government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program, and local production of the Mirage began recently, ahead of the Vios, Toyota’s participation in CARS.

Meanwhile, sales of the new Montero Sport soared 75.11 percent from 695 units in February 2016 to 1,217 last month, thereby toppling the L300 (1,134 units sold) as the brand’s best-selling nameplate. In January 2017, Mitsubishi sold 939 units of the new Montero Sport.

3rd place: Isuzu

In January 2017, Isuzu was in seventh place with 1,328 units sold, while Nissan rose to fifth place with 1,659 units sold and Suzuki barely surpassed Isuzu for sixth place with 1,361 units sold.

Last month, Isuzu sold 1,904 units to leap to third place, displacing Ford. Nissan managed to stick to fifth place with 1,524 units sold, pushing Ford (1,500 vehicles sold) down to sixth and Suzuki to seventh with 1,185 units sold.

Isuzu’s jump in the ranks can be traced to the 43.4 percent increase of its February 2017 sales compared to January 2017 (1,904 units vs 1,328 units) plus the inclusion of its Category III, IV and V trucks in the counting.

Sales of the Isuzu mu-X midsize SUV surged to 813 units last month, representing a 65.9 percent growth over the 490 units sold in January 2017.

Likewise, sales of the D-Max pickup truck rose to 279 units in February 2017, a 30.4 percent difference over the 214 units sold in January 2017.

The Crosswind AUV improved its sales figure to 301 units sold last month compared to 224 in January 2017, or a 34.4 percent growth.

However, in terms of YTD (Jan-Feb 2017 vs Jan-Feb 2016) sales, the mu-X, D-Max and Crosswind all sustained percentage declines.

4th place: Honda

In January this year, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) sold 2,185 vehicles to earn fourth place in the CAMPI sweepstakes, but last month, although HCPI sales dropped to 1,692 units, it was still enough to surpass Ford’s February 2017 sales of 1,500 vehicles.

On the other hand, in year to date (YTD) sales combining January 2017 and February 2017 sales, Ford still has the upper hand with a total of 4,019 units sold versus HCPI’s 3,877.

The key contributors to HCPI’s retail sales last month were the recently introduced BR-V subcompact crossover (468 units sold) and the consistently popular City subcompact sedan (452 units sold.)

The BR-V now contributes 61 percent to HCPI’s commercial vehicle sales while 286 units of the all-new Civic 1.8 E and RS Turbo were sold last month, making it the third best-selling nameplate in the Honda lineup after the BR-V and City.

5th place: Nissan

In January 2017, Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI) posted total vehicle sales of 1,659 units to take fifth place in the top 10 CAMPI performers, and retained the spot by selling 1,524 vehicles in February 2017, or 24 more than Ford’s 1,500.

The 1,524 figure was a 27 percent improvement over the 1,203 units sold in February last year.

The top seller in NPI’s lineup last month was the Navara pickup, registering 489 units sold or a 66 percent growth over February 2016.

The Urvan, Nissan’s best seller in January 2017, took second place with 423 units sold, followed by the Almera subcompact sedan with 324 units sold, a 93 percent improvement over February last year.

The Juke subcompact crossover also registered three digits in unit sales last month at 222 units, a 21 percent growth over February 2016.

Thirty units of the X-Trail, Nissan’s compact crossover, were sold in February 2017 compared to 27 in the year-ago period, a modest 11 percent growth.

The Sylphy, Nissan’s replacement for the Sentra compact sedan, posted sales of 22 units last month, or a 22-percent increase over February 2016.

Although the variance between February 2017 (1,524 units sold) and January 2017 (1,659 units sold) was a minus 8 percent, NPI managed to stay in the Magic 5 Circle.

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2nd five in the top 10 list
In January 2017, the auto industry players that earned the remaining five slots in the Top Ten Performers list were Suzuki, 6th place; Isuzu, 7th; Kia, 8th; Foton, 9th and Mazda, 10th.
With Isuzu’s remarkable ascent to third place, and Nissan hanging on to fifth place in the Top Ten, which brands aside from Ford and Suzuki will make it to the second five list?
The tables will tell.

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6th place: Ford

Ford Philippines dropped to sixth place in CAMPI’s total vehicle sales ranking with February 2017 sales of 1,500 vehicles, down from 2,529 units in January 2017.

In a press statement, Ford said that vehicle registration policies affected the purchase and release of new vehicles but despite the policy impact, EcoSport’s sales rose 20 percent year-on-year to 1,397 vehicles, the sum total of 922 units sold in January 2017 and 475 last month.

In February 2017, the Everest led Ford’s sales with 527 units sold but still less than the 722 units sold of the Everest in January 2017.

“We continue to work with our dealers while cooperating with regulatory requirements to help mitigate any issues related to the release and delivery of vehicles to our customers,” said Lance Mosley, managing director of Ford Philippines.

7th place: Suzuki

Suzuki Philippines has a policy of not revealing its sales digits per model, but did offer the percentage variances per model sold in February 2017 compared to February 2016 and also to January 2017.

According to the Joint CAMPI-TMA Sales Report for February 2017, Suzuki sold 1,185 vehicles last month, comprising 4.38 percent market share compared to 1,041 units in the same year-ago month, or a 16.9 percent growth.

But Suzuki sold 1,361 vehicles in January 2017, which means a 12.9 percent decline compared to the 1,185 sold in February 2017.

Suzuki reported that sales last month of its APV mini compact cab and chassis pickup grew 238 percent over January 2017 and 35 percent compared to February last year.

Sales of the Ertiga, Suzuki’s AUV, grew 41 percent last month compared to February 2016, but was minus 30 percent compared to January 2017.

Same thing with the Jimny mini subcompact SUV, whose sales grew 28 percent last month compared to February 2016, but dropped minus 9 percent compared to the first month of 2017.

The Swift, Suzuki’s subcompact car, saw its sales decline 30 percent versus January 2017 and by 15 percent versus February 2016.

Clearly, the APV is Suzuki’s best seller. No percentage variances were given for the multicab Carry, Alto, Vitara, Grand Vitara, Celerio, Swift Dzire, Wagon R, SX4, Ciaz, Escudo, Esteem, and the rambunctious Kizashi midsize sedan.

Kia, Mazda and Foton

As of press time, Columbian Autocars Corp., the importer/distributor of Kia, Berjaya Auto Philippines, Inc., the importer/distributor of Mazda and Foton Motor Philippines, Inc. had not sent their sales figures for February 2017.

This leaves space for more tables such as the 10 best-selling nameplates, top three nameplates per brand, ranking of pickup trucks, and other vehicles in February 2017.

Since Suzuki, Kia, Mazda and Foton did not send the information requested, their vehicles are not included in these tables.

10 BEST-SELLING NAMEPLATES IN FEB 2017
1) Toyota Vios 2,899 units sold
2) Toyota Fortuner 2,100
3) Toyota Innova 1,864
4) Toyota Hiace 1,548
5) Mitsubishi Montero Sport (new) 1,217
6) Toyota Wigo 1,195
7) Mitsubishi L300 1,134
8) Toyota Hilux 1,080
9) Toyota Avanza 1,066
10) Mitsubishi Adventure 856

Toyota’s dominance of the market is proven by the inclusion of seven of its nameplates in CAMPI’s 10 best-sellers for February 2017.

The only other brand able to invade the list was Mitsubishi, whose new Montero Sport ranked fifth, its L300 took seventh place and its Adventure AUV was tenth.

Significantly enough, the recently introduced 7-seater Honda BR-V outsold long-time segment leader Ford EcoSport by a mere 13 units. The scuttlebutt is that Toyota will barge into this lucrative market segment by bringing in its own subcompact crossover, the C-HR this year or next.

Bottom line, Toyota unsurprisingly still ruled the roost in February 2017, with Mitsubishi a distant but ever steady second.

Isuzu amazed industry pundits by jumping from seventh to third place, in the process pushing Ford out of the Magic 5 Circle.

 

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The scrambling of rankings in terms of sales is expected to continue in the months ahead as new government policies and regulations, supply limitations, trends and the fickleness of consumers come into play.

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