MANILA: The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturer Association (TMA) reported on Monday that local vehicle sales from January to March 2024 increased by 12.7 percent.
From 97,284 units sold during the same period in 2023, vehicle sales shot up to 109,606 units for the first quarter of 2024.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement that the first quarter (Q1) performance of the industry keeps it on track to achieve its full year target of selling 468,300 units.
Joint CAMPI and TMA report showed that both passenger cars and commercial vehicle segments grew double digit in Q1 2024.
Sales of passenger cars in the first three months of the year increased by 14 percent to 28,211 units from 24,753 units in the same period last year.
Commercial vehicle sales also improved by 12.2 percent to 81,395 units in Q1 2024 from 72,531 units sold in Q1 2023.
Passenger cars shared 25.74 percent of the total sales in Q1 this year, while 74.26 percent came fro
m commercial vehicles.
‘Year-to-date sales performance was driven by sustained demand for new vehicles, supported by overall supply improvement,’ Gutierrez said.
Meanwhile, vehicle sales in March this year stood at 37,474 units, 1.6 percent higher than the 36,880 units sold in March 2023.
Year-on-year sales of passenger cars slightly increased by 0.7 percent to 10,127 units from 10,058 units, while commercial vehicle sales went up by 2 percent to 27,347 units from 26,822 units.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort told the Philippine News Agency that the higher inflation and interest rates that increased financing costs, including for auto loans, started to slow down demand, which was seen in the year-on-year vehicle sales performance.
He said more hawkish statements from the US Federal Reserve System and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that could delay rate cuts could still weigh on the demand growth for vehicle sales.
Commenting on the Q1 performance of the local vehicle ass
emblers, Ricafort said it suggests that the Philippine economy continues to recover.
‘The year-to-date vehicle sales growth still at double-digit levels is a good signal on the further recovery of the Philippine economy, as well as the country’s favorable demographics, since the Philippines is one of 10 biggest market, or the country accounted for the 10th highest sales, for the world’s largest automaker,’ Ricafort said.
‘In recent months, the Philippines has one of the highest growth rates for both vehicle sales and vehicle production in ASEAN, consistent with the fact that the country has one of the fastest economic growths in ASEAN and Asia,’ he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency