The Philippine new vehicle market expanded 5.5% to 33,715 units in December from 31,945 units in the same month of the previous year, according to member wholesale data released jointly by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).
The data did not include non-affiliated brands such as Hyundai, Kia, Chevrolet and Subaru, which together accounted for around 11% of the total market last year.
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Full year sales increased by 3.5% to 369,941 units in 2019 from 357,410 units in the previous year, as the market recovered slowly from the sharp decline in the previous year after government implemented broad excise tax increases in January 2018.
CAMPI data showed vehicle sales fell by just over 16% to 357,410 units in 2018 from 425,673 units in 2017.
Economic growth in the country was estimated to have slowed to around 5.8% in 2019 from 6.2% in the previous year, with growth picking up in the second half following a series of interest rate cuts by the central bank.
Passenger car sales were just slightly higher at 109,197 units last year from 109,020 in 2018, while commercial vehicle sales increased 5% to 260,744 units from 248,390 units.
Toyota sales rose 5.9% to just over 162,000 units last year to claim a 43.8% share of the market followed by Mitsubishi Motors with 64,060 units (-5.1%) and Nissan with 42,690 units (+22.2%).
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez estimated the overall vehicle market, including non-affiliated brands, rose to 410,000 units last year up from 402,000 units in 2018.
The government forecast GDP growth to accelerate to between 6.5% and 6.7% in 2020, driven by consumer spending, lower interest rates and growing tourism, so further vehicle market growth is expected for 2020.
