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By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez
Reporter
Car sales continued to post
double-digit growth in the first three months, the Chamber of
Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. announced
Wednesday.
Elizabeth Lee, executive vice
president of Universal Motors Corp. and president of Campi, said the
auto industry sold a total of 28,904 units from January to March
this year, an improvement over the 26,199 units sold in the same
period last year.
Lee said, “There is still a
relatively strong demand for vehicles as consumers continue to buy
cars, albeit with much more discretion as higher food and fuel
prices come into play in the purchase decision. Hence, the continued
preference for vehicles that double as personal and business use
reflect the importance of value for money.”
By end-March alone, the industry
sold 10,624 units to show an increase of 10.3 percent over the same
month last year.
Passenger car sales in March
totaling 3,744 units grew by 7.6 percent from the same period last
year, and toted up 9,380 units sold in the first three months of the
year.
Meanwhile, commercial vehicles,
which account for 66 percent of total market, sold 6, 880 units in
March, bringing total outstanding sales in the first quarter to
19,074. This segment grew by 12 percent over the same period last
year.
Toyota Motors Philippines still
leads with 10,119 total units sold, tailed by Honda Cars Philippines
Inc. with 4,034 units. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. took the
third post with 3,684 units sold and Hyundai Asia Resources Inc.,
the fourth slot with 2,369 units sold. Isuzu Philippines Corp. at
no. 5 sold 2,330 units, followed by Ford Motor Company Philippines
Inc. (+Mazda) with 2,021 total units sold.
“The industry still foresees
growth for the year,” Lee said, citing sustained economic growth
and OFW remittances as prime movers of private consumption.
“Sales are also expected to be
sustained with upcoming major events, which will boost sales in the
second half of the year during the forthcoming Second Philippine
International Motorshow,” Lee said.
Further, the year-to-date sales
of Asian utility vehicles registered a 2.1-percent growth in sales.
“Although growth has slowed a
bit for the segment, the volume of sales is fairly significant with
first quarter sales of 7,508 total units,” Lee said.
Sales of light commercial
vehicles—pickups, vans, compact and full-size sports utility
vehicles—showed an overall growth of 21 percent in first three
months over the same period last year.
“LCV segment continues to be
the strongest in terms of sales growth, validating the market’s
need for utility vehicles,” Lee said.
Total sales for the first three
months of SUVs stood at 10,923 units.
On the other hand, sales of light
trucks decreased by 9 percent from the same period last year. But
month-on-month, the segment sales in March increased from February
by 14 percent due to fleet account deliveries.
Caterpillar IV and V sales for
March 2008 increased by almost 20 percent compared with February
this year, due to fleet account deliveries. However, year-to-date
sales increased slightly by 2.7 percent.
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