THE industry is on a blazing rally, recording a 20-percent increase in vehicle sales in May.
Interestingly, the commercial car segment took the lion’s share of 34.2 percent to 19,406 units, which is more than half of the total cars sold last month.
Light commercial vehicles finished a strong second at 15,385 units, up by 33.4 percent as the May sales totalled a whopping 26,370 units sold for a 19.5 percent leap from the 22,062 units sold in the same period a year ago.
“The ripple effects of the pandemic and the robust domestic demand triggered the continued improvement of the automotive sales performance recorded in May,” said Toyota’s Rommel Gutierrez, president of Campi (Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc.).
The double-digit percentage growths during the three straight months on a year-over-year basis, said Gutierrez, is indicative of a full economic recovery.
Vehicle total sales rose to 14.6 percent through 126,273 units sold thus far for the year, including data from the TMA (Truck Manufacturers Association).
As usual, Toyota collared the biggest sales chunk of 52 percent, recording 65,668 vehicles sold since January.
Mitsubishi was second with 12.84 percent at 16,209 cars sold, and Nissan third with 7.58 percent at 9,571 units.
Lexus big hit at Rockwell
LEXUS was a recent hit during the exhibition of its Omotenashi platform, featuring its trio of Lexus IS sport sedan, Lexus RX crossover, and the flagship Lexus LS at Makati’s Rockwell Powerplant.
Visitors had a field day gawking at the creations of Takumi master craftsmen, who are famous for their most subtle and finely tuned human senses to the vehicle production process: sight that can see marks invisible to the untrained eye, hearing that can tune an engine with surgical precision, and touch that can detect imperfections to a fraction of a millimeter.
The pinnacle of Takumi craftsmanship is the Lexus LS flagship sedan, whose craftsmanship starts from the vehicle’s powertrain and suspension all the way down to the stitch points of the seats.
Since its debut in 1999, the Lexus IS has gained its reputation for its high-level driving performance and sporty styling.
The RX fits right into an active lifestyle, asserting its presence on a variety of roads and diverse driving conditions through its 3.5-liter V6 direct-injection engine mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
“There is no luxury SUV crossover as likable as the Lexus RX,” said Jade B. Sison, the super-energetic front liner of Lexus chieftain Raymond T. Rodriguez.
Orders weren’t in trickles, I was told.
PEE STOP The MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) will hold its monthly Board meeting today (Friday, June 24) in Davao City, with the diminutive, brand-new Chair Ogie Jaro presiding. As a proud Board member since 2016, I will not miss it as this will mark the first time that the MTRCB will hold its first ever Board meeting in Davao City. I will also take the opportunity to rekindle ties with the Alphard-driving, and big bike enthusiast Ken Angeles, my long-time buddy and a dear friend of Sen. Bong Go. Pareng Ken owns Davao’s famous Yellow Fin Tuna restaurant, which happens to be President Duterte’s favorite eatery for decades now. The joint’s next door neighbour was the now-extinct—sadly—After Dark, a sleek piano bar where Tatay Digong loved to spend the night in his halcyon days, saying goodbye to his “glass mates” usually at the crack of dawn but only after having belted his favorite song, “McArthur’s Park,” delivered a la Richard Harris. Ah, those were the days, indeed.