Automotive sales increased by 15.9 percent to 302,869 units in the first nine months of 2017 from 261,370 units during the same period in 2016.
However, sales in September, according to a combined report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Truck Manufacturers Association, declined 2.4 percent to 34,445 units from 35, 309 units in August.
“September sales result decreased compared to August sales result because of decrease in sales of major distributors,” said CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez.
Both groups, though, remain confident the outlook for the succeeding months remained robust driven by good performance of key automotive models.
“We maintain our optimism in achieving the year-end target with competitive promotional support and marketing activities to further push vehicle sales,” Gutierrez said.
Passenger car sales in the first nine months of 2017 rose 4.8 percent to 101,655 units from 97,036 units a year ago.