New vehicle sales in the Philippines continued to grow in May 2024, by 5% to 40,271 units from 38,177 units a year earlier, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).
The market had continued to expand this year after rebounding strongly in the previous two years from the pandemic lows despite slowing consumer spending growth following sharp interest rate hikes by the central bank over the last two years from 2.0% to 6.5%. Overall GDP growth was slightly higher at 5.7% year on year in the first quarter, driven mainly by a strong rebound in exports.
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The associations’ data showed vehicle sales in the first five months of 2024 rose 13% to 187,191 from 166,104 a year earlier with commercial vehicle sales increasing by 11% to 137,944 units while passenger car sales were up 18% at 49,247 units.
Campi president Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement: “Supply improvements and strong consumer demand, coupled with an increase in automotive financing and strong sales activity, helped boost sales in May.”
Toyota reported a 12% sales rise to 86,256 units year to date (YTD) followed by Mitsubishi with 35,145 units (+16%), Ford 12,241 (+10%), Nissan 11,550 (+7%) and Suzuki with 7,974 units.
The Philippine government recently agreed to include hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in its EO12 zero tariff programme currently available only to zero emission vehicles such as BEVs until 2028.
Toyota planned to begin production of a new Tamaraw utility vehicle in the third quarter of 2024 with deliveries to follow in the fourth quarter. The model would be based on the new Hilux Champ entry-level pickup truck produced in Thailand. The automaker also said it planned to launch more HEV models in response to the government’s new policy.
