DELIVERIES made by member-companies of the country’s biggest auto industry groups zoomed 13.5% in July on the back of the strong performance of the passenger car sector.
Figures released Wednesday by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed total vehicle sales in July were at 31,810 units, a 13.5% increase over the 28,038 posted for the same month in 2018.
Of the July total, 9,397 were passenger cars, a 34.7% leap from the 6,975 units logged for the comparable month last year.
Still accounting for the bulk of sales, however, were commercial vehicles with deliveries reaching 22,413 units in July versus 21,063 units during 2018’s same month — a 6.4% growth.
CAMPI president Rommel R. Gutierrez, also a first vice president at Toyota Motor Philippines, said that if CAMPI and TMA members can sustain the growth trend, the groups’ total sales for 2019 may exceed their tally in 2018.
“It is noteworthy that positive factors such as continued and strong sales campaigns and stable supply of units have outweighed the unfavorable effects of the off-peak season, [resulting in] overall sales growth,” Gutierrez said. He explained July has “historically” been “one of the lean months for the industry.”
Combined CAMPI and TMA sales for the first seven months of the year reached 205,945 units, a 3.2% gain from the 199,628-unit tally the groups managed during the same period in 2018.
Sales of passenger cars for the same stretch, though, are still 1.8% less this year — or 61,815 against 62,959 from January to July 2018.
Deliveries of commercial vehicles for the same period reached 144,130 units, 5.5% more than the 136,669-unit total recorded in 2018.
The five top-selling manufacturers in CAMPI and TMA posted mixed performances for the January-July period. Toyota Motor Philippines sold 87,574 units (3.8% more than its tally in 2018), Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Philippines 35,977 units (-7.3%), Nissan Philippines 24,711 (53.6%), Suzuki Philippines 13,119 (18.3%) and Ford Motor Philippines 13,095 (-10.8%).
Another domestic industry group, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, reports its sales performance separately.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.