MANILA -- Automotive vehicle sales in August has increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year reaching 35,309 units this year from 32,472 units in 2016.
In the joint report of Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released Friday, CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez said sales last month remained stable with the good sales performance of key models from major manufacturers.
Sales of both segments of passenger cars and commercial vehicles grew last month. Sales of passenger cars inched up by 1.1 percent to 11,258 units in August 2017 from 11,136 units in the previous year.
Sales of commercial vehicles rose 12.7 percent year-on-year in August 2017 despite declinein the sales of trucks and buses sub-segments by double digit.
Asian utility vehicle (AUV) and light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales buoyed the performance of commercial vehicles.
AUV sales last month increased by 19.7 percent to 6,874 units this year from 5,734 units in 2016.
LCV sales, on the other hand, went up by 18.1 percent to 15,499 units in August 2017 from 13,127 units in the same month last year.
Sales of light trucks declined 31.8 percent to 1,041 units, while category four and five of trucks and buses had a negative growth of 36.8 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively.
Despite a slowdown in growth in August, sales for the period of January to August this year increased by 16.7 percent to 268,424 units compared to the 229,919 unit sales in the same period a year ago.
Commercial vehicle sales led the growth, increasing sales by 22.3 percent year-on-year for the said period with total sales of 177,285 units.
Passenger car sales improved by 7.3 percent in January to August this year to 91,139 units from 84,926 units in the same period in 2016.
Leading car companies for the first eight months of the year were Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, Isuzu, and Honda. (PNA)
