New vehicle sales in the Philippines increased by almost 9% to 40,898 units in November 2024 from 37,683 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 market in November was driven by continued strong demand for light commercial vehicles (CVs), with overall CV sales rising by over 10% to 31,062 units while passenger vehicle volumes increased by just 3% to 9,836 units.
The vehicle market has been remarkably resilient this year, after rebounding strongly from the pandemic in the previous two years, despite a slowdown in overall economic growth in the third quarter of 2024 to 5.2% year-on-year from 6.4% in the second quarter, reflecting mainly a slowdown in government spending and weaker fixed investment growth.
Household spending growth accelerated to 5.1% from 4.7%, helped by two 25-basis-point rate cuts by central bank in August and September - from 6.5% to 6.0%. A further 25-basis-point rate cut, to 5.75%, was made in December.
Data released jointly by the two associations shows vehicle sales rose by 9% to 425,208 units in the first eleven months of 2024 from390,654 a year earlier, with commercial vehicle sales increasing by 8% to 314,563 units while passenger car sales rose by 11% to 99,665 units.
Toyota reported a 10% sales increase to 197,756 units in the eleven-month period; followed by Mitsubishi Motors with 81,401 units (+13%); Ford 25,770 units (+10%); Nissan 24,516 units (-1%); and Suzuki 18,515 units (+11%).
Earlier this year the Philippine government added hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to its EO12 zero-tariff programme, which was previously available only for zero-emission vehicles such as battery electric vehicles (BEVs), until 2028. Local automakers are stepping up HEV launches in response to this new policy.
CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez told reporters that he expects total vehicle sales in the country “could easily rise by 10% in 2025”, up from a projected 468,000 units in 2024, driven by new model launches including Toyota’s new entry-level Tamaraw utility vehicle range based on the Thai-made Hilux Champ.
