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SALES of
the local automotive industry continue to pick up this
year as units sold last month totaled 8,628, which is 19
percent higher than the 7,265 units sold in April 2006.
The
strong sales last month helped the year-to-date sales of
the industry to jump by 18.7 percent to 34,829 units for
the first four months of the year.
“Auto
industry sales are on track to hurdle the 100,000-unit
sales mark by year-end assuming the continued
implementation of the used-car import ban coupled with
the strong peso,” Elizabeth Lee, president of the
Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines
Inc. (Campi), said.
Lee said
automakers are expecting higher sales in May.
Passenger cars (PC) sold in April increased by 16
percent to 2,953 units compared with the same month last
year.
This
helped the sales of passenger PC to grow by 11.2 percent
from January to April to 12,118 units.
Lee said
the current new models recently introduced in the market
will help buoy sedan sales for the coming months.
For the
commercial vehicles (AUV, SUV, van, pickup, buses, light
trucks and trucks), the number of units sold soared by
21 percent to 5,675 units in April, improving the sales
for the first four months of the year by 23 percent to
22,711 units compared with the same period last year.
“Positive sales growth on the average should be seen in
the coming months. Further, the recent introduction of
several new models will sustain retail sales, while
fleet sales deliveries are seen to continue in May,” Lee
said.
Toyota
remains the dominant company in the Philippines with a
39.72-percent market share and total four-month sales of
13,833 units.
Rounding
up the Top 10 are Honda with 5,167 units sold;
Mitsubishi, 4,315 units; Isuzu, 2,951 units; Ford +
Mazda, 2,537 units; Hyundai, 2,249 units; Universal
Motors Corp., 880 units; Columbian Autocar, 643 units;
General Motors, 604 units; and Pilipinas Hino, 591
units. |
