Car sales grow amid planned tax increase for 2018

A month before new excise car taxes are slapped, car and truck manufacturers reported reaching one of their highest growths in sales this year, recent data showed.

Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), show that car sales of member companies reached 40,799 units in November, a 23.8-percent increase from the same month a year ago.

This marks the third highest year-on-year increase reported by the two auto groups, following the 27.8 percent and 32.9 percent year-on-year growth sales in January and March, respectively, previous data showed.

Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said December sales were still expected to be “strong,” following how sales in November also outpaced those of October. Data pointed to an 11.7 percent improvement from the sales in October this year, which delivered 36,511 units.

“Carrying the momentum from November sales, the outlook for December remains strong driven by the good sales performance of key models from other brands,” Gutierrez said in a statement.

A total of 380,179 units were sold from January to November this year, growing 16.8 percent from the same 11 months in 2016. The car industry, including the sales of a group of car importers, expects to sell 450,000 units at the end of the year.

Gutierrez, who is also a top official of market leader Toyota Motors Philippines Corp., said he was “confident” of meeting the yearend industry target.

The latest growth figures came prior to the final version of the new car excise tax expected to be implemented starting January 2018.

Ending months of speculations about which version would hold water, the two chambers of Congress finally decided to hike the excise tax on all price brackets.

Before Congress approved the final version of the tax proposal, previous versions both in the House of Representatives and Senate wanted all price brackets to see an increase in their excise tax rates—a development which led some car officials to expect lower sales starting next year.

It remains to be seen how the new rates would affect growth prospects, especially since the tax rates were increased.

Sales of commercial vehicles increased in November from the same period last year. On the other hand, passenger cars sold slightly less in the same month.

Commercial vehicles sold 28,898 units, a 38.8-percent increase in November this year. In the first 11 months of the year, the segment, which accounts for more than 60 percent of the total market, grew 24.5 percent to 254,937 units.

Sales of passenger cars slid two percent in November to 11,901 units from 12,143 units in the same month last year. Despite this, there was still a slight increase from January to November after the segment sold 125,242 units, marking a 3.8-percent growth.

Toyota is still the market leader in terms of sales, accounting for more than 43 percent of the total market. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. follows with a 17.55-percent share. Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. is third with 8.42 percent.