CAMPI: AUTO MAKERS TO END 2022 ON A HIGH NOTE

WITH local car sales sustaining its growth trend in October, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) said it is confident sales will exceed its forecast for 2022.

A joint report released by Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that vehicle makers sold 32,146 units in October, 42.4 percent higher than last year’s 22,581 units.

“The continued double-digit growth recorded anew in October is boosting optimism for the automotive industry, further accelerating full recovery this year from the pandemic disruptions,” CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement on Tuesday.

Gutierrez expressed confidence that the automotive industry will not only continuously grow in the remaining months of the year, but will also surpass its target of 336,000 units this year.

“Sustaining this growth trend in the remaining months of the year gives us confidence that the industry will be able to emerge strong, exceeding its forecast speaking from the current business-as-usual standpoint,” he said.

Data from Campi-tma also showed that from January to October, vehicle sales rose by 30.9 percent to 280,300 units from 214,186 units last year.

Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, data indicated that car sales fell by 8.9 percent from the 35,282 units sold in September.

The light commercial vehicle, commercial vehicle and Asian utility vehicle segments buoyed the performance of the local automotive sector in October.

In contrast, passenger cars (PC) and trucks and buses performed poorly last month.

Sales of trucks and buses fell by 18.1 percent to 748 units from January to October from the 913 units sold in the same period last year.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. led year-to-date sales with 140,425 units, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 40,666 and Ford Motor Company Phils. with 18,645 units.

In March, Gutierrez said the automotive industry targets to sell 336,000 units this year which is 17 percent higher from the actual volume of 268,488 total vehicle units sold in 2021.

With the 280,300 units sold from January to October, local car makers must sell 55,700 units to hit its sales target for the year.

In 2020, CAMPI said total vehicle sales reached 223,793. Meanwhile, auto makers sold a total of 369,941 units in 2019.