By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat

A joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) total sales posted a month-on-month growth of 2.6%, selling 31,116 units in September 2018 from 30,313 units in August 2018.

CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said that new models that are currently available in the market continue to drive this sales growth for two consecutive months. We remain optimistic that this trend will be sustained before the year ends, as we expect boost in sales from the upcoming 7thPhilippine International Motor Show this month and the Christmas season.

By category, the Passenger Car segment sales pick up by 8.8% with 9,441 units from 8,678 units last month. The Commercial Vehicle segment also grew by measly 0.2% with 21,675 units from 21,635 in the previous month. Of the CV segment, the Asian Utility Vehicle (Category 1) declined by 1.8% with 2,926 units from 2,981 units a month ago.

The Light Commercial Vehicle (Category 2) slightly pick up by 1.6% with 17,626 units from 17,354 units. Light Trucks (Category 3) sales retracted by 16.6% with 571 units from 685 units. Trucks and Buses (Category 4 and 5) both posted negative growth of 7.7% and 17.6%, respectively. The Category 4 sold a total of 421 units while Category 5 sold 131 units in the same period this year.

Aggregate sales for the first nine months of the year (YTD) continue to dwindle by 13.8%, selling total units of 261,057 units compared with 302,869 in the same period a year ago.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation remains the market leader with nearly 42% market share followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation with 19.3%. Nissan Philippines, Inc. came in at third with a market share of 9.4%, followed by Ford Motor Company Philippines, Inc. and Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. with 6.9% and 6.6% market share, respectively.