Vehicle sales up by 18 percent; passenger cars on the rise-report

Vehicle sales rose to 116,617 units in the first eight months of 2013, an increase of 18 percent. The increase is due to a higher volume of passenger cars during the period.

August sales rose by 21 percent to 13,700 units, despite it being the so-called ‘ghost month,’ when Asian investors usually hold off major purchases. A joint report from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association enumerated the bulk of the sales in the first eight months were commercial vehicles: 78,394 units. The figure represents a 13.6-percent increase compared to last year’s 69,980 units.

Passenger cars jumped by 28.5 percent to 38,223 units from 29,745 sold a year ago. Light commercial vehicles posted 19 percent increase to 48,465 units from last year’s 40,733.

CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said their group was optimistic of meeting its revised sales target of 210,000 units for 2013. “The market should expect some new model introduction as well as bigger promotion packages,” Gutierrez added. Report by Amy R. Remo, Inquirer.net