NEW motor vehicle sales increased by 9.5 percent to 38,628 units last month from 36,714 a year earlier, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) said on Sunday.
In a statement, Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said the result was the “highest monthly sales performance in September and we hope that positive consumer outlook will be sustained in Q4 (the fourth quarter).”
Month-on-month, overall sales growth picked up by 5.2 percent from August.
Commercial vehicles accounted for the bulk of September sales at 29,070 units, or 75.26 percent of the total. It was 6.5 percent higher year on year and 9.5 percent up from the previous month.
Passenger cars, with a 24.74 percent share at 9,558 units, saw sales surge by 19.8 percent from a year earlier. From August, however, sales were down 5.31 percent.
Year-to-date, new vehicle sales rose to 314,843 units, 26.9 percent higher compared to the year-earlier 248,154. Of this, commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles comprised 234,834 and 80,009 units, respectively, up 24.8 percent and 33.2 percent year on year.
Commercial vehicles accounted for 75.8 percent of total sales as of end-September and passenger cars took up the remaining 24.2 percent.
Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. (TMP) remained the top seller, with 17,437 units leaving showrooms in September for a 45.14-percent market share. Year-to-date sales rose to 144,232 units — 42.81 percent of the market — and were also up 15.5 percent from a year earlier.
In second place was Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., which sold 7,626 units for a 19.74 percent-market share in September. This raised its year-to-date tally to 58,065 units or 18.44 percent of the market and 65.2 percent better than a year earlier.
Ford Motor Company Phils. Inc. was third with 3,391 units sold in September for an 8.78-percent market share. As of the end of the month, the automaker had sold a total 23,091 units, a 42.2-percent improvement from last year, giving it a market share of 7.33 percent.
“The auto market remained resilient since 2021 and current trend indicate that we will breach the highest pre-pandemic sales performance and achieve full industry recovery in 2023,” Gutierrez said.
Last month, Campi revised its 2023 sales forecast to 423,000 units, projecting 20 percent growth from actual 2022 sales.