Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) and Ford Philippines recorded higher sales last year due to sustained demand for vehicles in the country.
TMPC reached a milestone when vehicle sales in 2014 grew by 41 percent to 106,000 units, from 75,161 units posted in 2013. This marks the first time that sales of the Japanese carmaker breached 100,000 units in a single year.
The company, however, could not yet provide details on which vehicle segments drove sales last year. Toyota was able to register record sales monthly, breaking the 8,000-unit mark for the first time in March and selling more than 10,000 units in July and October.
Toyota launched four models last year—the All-New Altis, Innova, Yaris and the Wigo. TMPC sells a total of 18 models in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Ford Philippines also enjoyed higher sales last year. The company sold 20,341 units in 2014, 53 percent higher than the 13,286 units sold in 2013.
The Philippine unit of the American automaker attributed the increase to the “solid” performance of its Ranger, EcoSport and Everest models.
Sales of the Ranger expanded 70 percent to 7,996 units in 2014, from 4,691 units recorded in 2013, while Ford sold 5,203 units of EcoSport which was launched in the country in January last year. Ford said strong demand for 13 Ranger variants throughout the year drove sales of the car brand in 2014.
The American automaker continued to expand its nationwide dealer network in 2014, bringing the total to 36 full-service dealerships. This includes Ford Alabang, one of the largest Ford dealerships in the Asean region, which opened in November. The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (Campi), of which both TMPC and Ford Philippines are members, has yet to release sales of the local automotive industry in 2014. Campi had initially projected sales in 2014 to grow by 10 percent year on year to 230,000 units. The group revised its forecast upward to 250,000 units due to the solid performance of the local auto industry in January to March last year.
In October TMPC had expressed confidence that total industry sales could reach as much 260,000 units due to the steady increase in sales.