Combined sales of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) posted a 22.7-percent increase in the first 11 months of the year.
The auto manufacturers reported on Wednesday that sales from January-to-November period reached 261,930 units compared to the same period in 2014 at 213,427 units.
All car segments, as well as truck and buses categories registered at least double-digit growth of 12.3 percent.
For the said period this year, commercial vehicles sales went up by 19.1 percent to 156,010 units, from 130,990 units in the same period last year.
Sales of passenger cars grew by 28.5 percent to 105,920 units in January-to-November 2015 against 82,437 units registered in 2014.
Light commercial-vehicles sales also recorded over 100,000 mark. Sales of this segment rose by 21.3 percent to 102,165 units in the first 11 months this year from 84,241 units last year.
Asian-utility vehicles registered a growth of 12.3 percent with total sales from January to November 2015 reaching 45,832 units, from 2014’s 40,803 unit sales.
In the same period, sales of light trucks jumped by 25.3 percent to 4,681 units, while trucks and buses categories IV and V increased by 24.1 percent and 154.6 percent to 2,181 units and 1,151 units, respectively.
Month-on-month sales of Campi fell by 5.9 percent to 26,979 units in November 2015, from 28,667 units in October 2015.
It was noted that four of the top 5 brands registered negative sales growth last month.
Toyota, the market leader, had decreased sales by 5.9 percent; Mitsubishi, down by 7.3 percent; Isuzu, down by -6.4 percent; and Honda, down by 12.2 percent.
Among the top 5 brands, only Ford vehicles recorded a growth of 12.2 percent for the month of November.
Campi President lawyer Rommel Gutierrez said the auto industry is optimistic that it hits its target of 310,000 unit sales by end-2015, which will also include sales of car importers.
Car importers group, Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (Avid), expects a 50-percent growth by end of this year, according to its Chairman and President Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo. This means Avid may close the year with sales of more than 50,000 units.