Yes, we know we\'ve been remiss in our self-appointed duty to report Philippine car sales to you every month. The last time we did so was for the March 2013 figures. After that, some car companies simply stopped--in some cases even refused--to submit their sales data. As to why they did, we can only hazard a guess.
Anyway, we are thankful to both the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines and the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors for once again furnishing us with complete information on their sales performance for the month of June. Late, yes, but still better than nothing at all.
We hope that this will be a regular monthly thing again. Car companies need to understand that their customers are very much interested in the latest sales figures because these give car buyers an idea about market trends. We do understand that reporting sales figures can sometimes be daunting for brands that just suffered a really bad month, but then not submitting a report at all is even worse, as this paints a picture of unprofessionalism and dishonesty.
Kudos to the whole industry for again helping us put this report together.
A few notes on the sales report:
* As before, we deduct Lexus sales from Toyota sales, so Toyota\'s numbers below may vary from those you\'ll see in other media outlets;
* Hyundai gives special mention to the Grand Starex and the Tucson for its impressive numbers, but we\'re more amazed at the fact that Genesis Coupe sales from January to June this year are 322% better than last year\'s;
* Ford has wrested the fifth spot from Isuzu, presumably due to the strong sales of the Ranger and the Explorer;
* Universal Motors Corporation (Nissan LCVs) has also overtaken Kia for seventh place, while Nissan Motor Philippines has gone down a notch, from 11th to 12th, on account of Subaru\'s strong performance;
* Mazda is slowly but surely making a dent. Just like that and the rebuilding Japanese brand has already sold 914 units for the year;
* BMW sold an eye-popping 93 units in June for a 49% share of the premium segment. Its 333 year-to-date tally represents a 10% year-on-year improvement from 2012;
* Lexus\'s year-on-year growth is even better at 15%, already moving a total of 194 units for the year;
* Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, attributes its relatively low 20-unit sales in June to depleted stocks (\"The E-Class units are just arriving since the model is new, while the C-Class and S-Class units have been sold out,\" says our inside source);
* PGA Cars continues to get an asterisk for not breaking down its sales total to reflect the separate numbers of its different brands (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche). Yes, the Chrysler division of CATS Motors also does not break down its sales total to show individual Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge digits, but it\'s okay since these three brands belong to the same parent company (Chrysler). Technically speaking, the four PGA Cars brands also belong to the same group (Volkswagen Group), but it would be weird to give them the same treatment since the Volkswagen brand itself isn\'t even represented here by PGA Cars.
