SO MANY cars, so many buyers. But what type of vehicles will be most in demand this year? Inquirer Motoring asks industry insiders.
Fe Perez Agudo, Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (Avid) president and Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. CEO and president, sees a strong growth “in the passenger car category on the back of an expanding middle class and enhanced purchasing power.
“The yuppie market, young professionals aged 28-35 with monthly incomes of P45,000 and above (according to Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia), is expected to grow by 15 percent in the next five years. It is from this market that we foresee a boost in demand for entry-level vehicles belonging to the A and B segments,” said Agudo.
“Light commercial vehicles (LCVs), on the other hand, will most likely sustain their growth path, going by the ever-increasing consumer demand for technology and product innovations. Midsize SUVs will take the lead in the growth of the LCV segment as sales are expected to hit 78,000 units by 2016. Following behind is the compact SUV segment, which is seen to increase by 56 percent in 2016,” said Agudo.
Road conditions, weather
Lawyer Alberto Arcilla, Volvo Philippines president and The Covenant Car Company Inc. president and managing director, said that “the Philippines will still see the consistent growth in the SUV, pickup and MPV segments as these are still the first preference of our buyers.
“We attribute this to the driving conditions that a regular owner has to deal with, like weather, road accessibility and personal requirements. With more and more buyers having active lifestyles, convenient space and road height clearance will be an important criteria in the buying considerations of the market,” added Arcilla.
Lawyer Rommel Gutierrez, Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (Campi) president and Toyota Motor Philippines’ first vice president, said that the type of vehicles Pinoys prefer will solely depend on the customer’s needs and usage.
“However, we can expect SUVs to continue to be the best-selling segment because of its ease of use in various road conditions, not to mention new model changes that happened last year. Moreover, MPVs, subcompact passenger cars, and hatchbacks will continue to sell well in the auto industry since they are known for practicality and affordability.”
Subcompacts, commercial vehicles
Daniel M. Isla, Lexus Manila president, said: “I have a strong belief that the market will continue to grow, albeit moderately in 2015. The growth will be driven by the subcompacts and commercial vehicles (pickups and MPVs) on account of the continuously improving economy. As the economy progresses and the middle class sector expands, there will be more first-time car buyers of the compact entry-level cars.”
Isla predicted that “the same is true for small and medium enterprises which will propel sales of commercial vehicles as their businesses expand.”
John Philip Orbeta, president of Volkswagen Philippines, said that “the truck-based AUVs—grouped within the MPV segment—are the main staple of the Philippine auto market, being multipurpose vehicles at affordable prices with available diesel option, and will continue to do so in 2015.
“The subcompact (small) car is a growing segment with quite a number of totally new models launched in 2014; Volkswagen will in fact join the fray with the introduction of a small hatchback model in the first quarter of the year. The impact of full-year sales from the newly launched subcompact cars will be seen in 2015.
“The pickup segment showed some improvements, but this was fueled by the new models introduced by the leading truck makers. Hopefully, the marketing efforts will sustain the sales of these vehicles,” continued Orbeta.
For his part, CATS chair Greg Yu fearlessly forecasts that the sedan (passenger cars) will make a killing at the cash registers this year.
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