Vehicle sales jumped 22 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, marking the fourth straight year of record quarterly sales, two industry groups said Monday.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Truck Manufacturers Association said in a joint report members sold 76,479 units in the January-March period, up from 62,882 units delivered a year earlier.
Campi said the growth momentum was expected to be sustained in the rest of 2016, as the country’s economic fundamentals remained strong.
“This is another remarkable achievement for the automotive industry. It has been a good start for 2016 and we hope that the momentum can be maintained in the coming months,” said Campi president Rommel Gutierrez.
Data showed that in March alone, sales reached 27,521 units, up by 9.4 percent from 25,150 units in February. It was also 16.8 percent higher than 23,557 units sold in March 2015.
Both passenger cars and commercial vehicles showed robust sales following the introduction of all-new and refreshed models.
Sales of passenger cars or sedans increased 19 percent in the first quarter to 29,796 units from 25,051 units sold in the same period last year. In March alone, passenger car sales surged 38 percent to 11,345 units from 9,819 units a year ago.
Passenger cars accounted for 39 percent of the first-quarter sales.
Meanwhile, sales of commercial vehicles category jumped 16.8 percent in March to 16,176 units from 13,855 vehicles sold in March 2015.
All segments within the commercial vehicle category performed well, with heavy-duty trucks and buses or Category V posting the biggest growth of 97.9 percent.
The ongoing re-fleeting program and infrastructure improvement pushed the sales of this category, according to Campi.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. retained its market leadership, with 39.9-percent share, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 19.2 percent and Ford Motor Company Philippines Inc. with 10.3 percent.
Isuzu Philippines Corp. ranked fourth with 8.6 percent, followed by Honda Cars Philippines Inc. with 8.31 percent.