The local automotive industry has registered a 20-percent increase in sales for the full year of 2021, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported yesterday.
Local car assemblers ended last year with 268,488 unit sales from 223,793 units sold in 2020.
Both passenger car and commercial vehicle segments recorded double-digit growth.
Passenger car sales rose 22.4 percent to 85,260 units in 2021 compared to 69,638 units sold the previous year.
On the other hand, commercial vehicle sales grew 18.9 percent to 183,228 units from 154,155 units a year ago.
“Looking back at last year’s performance, the automotive industry has remained remarkably resilient with an overall growth of 20 percent compared with the same performance a year ago —that is no small feat indeed,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement.
The industry targets to sell 295,400 units, including imported vehicles.
As of September 2021, the group of car importers registered a total of 43,957 units for the first three quarters of 2021.
This means the entire industry has surpassed the 300,000-mark sales for last year.
Gutierrez added car sales in December last year were the highest since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic struck in March 2020.
Automotive sales last month reached 27,846 units, up by 0.9 percent compared to 27,596 units in December 2020, and higher by 5.3 percent compared to November 2021’s sales of 26,456 units.
“The industry remains optimistic for a continued recovery this year from the COVID-19 pandemic downturn as progress on inoculation has provided hopes for a better outlook for the wider economy, but ‘business as usual’ is still unlikely as challenges remain at hand,” Gutierrez said.
Leading car manufacturers in the country for 2021 are Toyota, with 48.3 percent market share; Mitsubishi, with 13.98 percent market share; Ford, with 7.45 percent market share; Nissan, with 7.3 percent market share; and Suzuki, with 7.22 percent market share.*PNA
