Vehicle assemblers surpass PH car industry target for 2022

The group of vehicle importers has yet to report its total sales for 2022. (Pexels Photo)

MANILA – The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported that their combined sales in 2022 stood at 352,596 units from 268,488 vehicles sold in 2021, increasing by 31.3 percent.

In a statement Wednesday, CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said vehicle manufacturers have surpassed the overall target of the country’s automotive industry for 2022, which is at 336,000 units.

The group of vehicle importers has yet to report its total sales for 2022.

“With this, CAMPI-TMA sales alone has exceeded the total industry sales forecast of 336,000 units – strong evidence that the industry has recovered from the impact of the pandemic and other external challenges,” Gutierrez added.

Commercial vehicles supported the sales of local assemblers last year, which grew by 45.6 percent to 266,699 units from 183,228 units in 2021.

On the other hand, passenger car sales had an uptick of 0.7 percent, selling 85,897 units in 2022 from 85,260 units in its previous year.

“The continued expansion of the economy, creation of new jobs and opportunities is just as important as ensuring that no pandemic disruption occurs anew this year. Nonetheless, the industry will continue to capitalize on the growing market demand for new motor vehicles,” Gutierrez said.

Meanwhile, sales for December 2022 alone jumped by 33.8 percent to 37,259 units from 27,846 units in the same month in 2021.

“Meantime, it is worth mentioning that the 37,000-level figure was recorded back in 2017. Achieving it again brings us renewed optimism for a better year ahead for the auto industry,” he added.

Both passenger car and commercial vehicle segments improved their sales by 2 percent and 47.7 percent, respectively.

December 2022 sales of passenger cars reached 8,614 units from 8,447 units a year ago, while commercial vehicle sales increased to 28,645 units from 19,399 units for the same period.

Top selling vehicles last year were Toyota, with a market share of 49 percent; Mitsubishi, with 15 percent market share; Ford, with 7 percent market share; Nissan, with 6 percent market share; and Suzuki, with 5.7 percent market share.