The Philippine new vehicle market continued to rebound strongly in December 2022, by almost 34% to 37,259 units from 27,846 units a year earlier, 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 country’s vehicle market has now returned to pre-pandemic levels with sales exceeding 30,000 units for the fifth consecutive month, as the domestic economy continued to recover from the pandemic.
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GDP growth was estimated to have expanded by 7.6% last year, driven by strong consumer spending and investment. The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a further 50 basis points to 5.5% in December, its highest level since 2009, in response to surging inflation.
Full year vehicles sales increased 31% to 352,596 units from 268,488 units in 2021 and just short of the 369,941 units reported in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.
This did not include data from members of the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors which sold a combined 58,916 vehicles in 2021.
Sales of commercial vehicles surged 46% to 266,699 units, driven by strong demand for pickup trucks and other light commercial vehicles, while passenger vehicle sales were just slightly higher at 85,897 units.
Toyota reported a 34% sales increase to 174,106 units last year followed by Mitsubishi with a 42% rise to 53,211 units, Ford 24,710 units, Nissan 21,222 units and Suzuki with 19,942 units.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said: “Achieving the 37,000 monthly sales level (last month), which was previously recorded in 2017, brings renewed optimism for a better year ahead for the auto industry.”
