It's bound to be the best year yet for the Philippine automotive industry as consistent strong demand for brand-new vehicles from January to September has kept carmakers on-track in posting a new record in car sales this year.
Strong sales have also prompted Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers in the Philippines (CAMPI) to upgrade the industry's sales forecast for a third time. The industry group now expects to close the year with sales reaching 170,000 to 175,000 units.
It may be recalled that CAMPI opened 2010 with a very conservative four-percent growth forecast with a target to sell 137,000 units. The target was revised in August to 165,000 units.
With the revised target, CAMPI is looking at breaking the sales record it posted in 1996 when the industry sold 162,000 brand-new cars.
September sales
Data from CAMPI and the Truck Manufacturers Association showed that sales from January to September stood at 126,901 units, 35.9 percent higher than the number of vehicles sold in the same months last year.
As much as 65 percent of the sales were commercial vehicles, while the rest are passenger cars. Both segments are dominated by Toyota Motor Philippines, which currently has a 32.5 percent market share in the country.
The Philippine car industry sold 14,447 units in September alone, representing a 27.8 percent growth over sales in the same month last year.
Last-quarter hurrah
At the rate the industry is going, CAMPI sees no reason for the market's appetite for new cars to dip in the last quarter of the year.
"Sales for the last quarter should remain healthy as consumer and business confidence remains steady," CAMPI president Elizabeth Lee said.
She added that high remittances from overseas Filipino workers, the availability of cash and financing packages to consumers, and the variety of promos for acquiring a new car will continue to drive sales.
"We can expect sustained sales to cap off 2010 as a good year for auto sales," Lee said.
| Philippine car sales as of September 2010 | |||||
| YTD ranking | Car company | January to September 2010 | January to September 2009 | September 2010 | September 2009 |
| 1 | Toyota Motor Philippines | 41,281 | 32,007 | 4,687 | 3,931 |
| 2 | Mitsubishi Motors Philippines | 23,998 | 16,632 | 2,786 | 1,869 |
| 3 | Hyundai Asia Resources | 15,575 | 7,949 | 1,818 | 1,167 |
| 4 | Honda Cars Philippines | 13,068 | 13,094 | 1,292 | 1,535 |
| 5 | Isuzu Philippines | 7,803 | 6,248 | 896 | 736 |
| 6 | Ford Motor Philippines (+Mazda) | 7,177 | 5,481 | 866 | 689 |
| 7 | Universal Motors | 4,759 | 3,691 | 481 | 457 |
| 8 | Columbian Autocar | 4,423 | 2,510 | 468 | 264 |
| 9 | Suzuki Philippines | 2,818 | 1,805 | 335 | 176 |
| 10 | Nissan Motor Philippines | 1,925 | 1,581 | 210 | 250 |
| 11 | The Covenant Car Co. | 1,425 | 1,039 | 203 | 59 |
| 12 | CATS Motors | 707 | Data unavailable | 108 | Data unavailable |
| 13 | Asian Carmakers | 519 | 376 | 84 | 44 |
| 14 | Pilipinas Hino | 495 | 232 | 94 | 41 |
| 15 | PGA Cars | 365 | 211 | 50 | 23 |
| 16 | Scandinavian Motors | 212 | 197 | 20 | 20 |
| 17 | Focus Ventures | 172 | Data unavailable | 11 | Data unavailable |
| 18 | Dreamco | 120 | 99 | 24 | 14 |
| 19 | MAN Automotive Concessionaires | 57 | 12 | 14 | 5 |
| 20 | Columbian Motors | 2 | 221 | 0 | 24 |
| Source: Joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers in the Philippines, Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association | |||||
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