By Melo M. Acuña
Car and truck sales in the Philippines rose by a double-digit pace in July 2019, according to a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers’ Association.
Total sales in July 2019 grew by 13.5 percent to 31,810 units from 28,038 units recorded a year ago.
“It is noteworthy that positive factors such as continued and strong sales campaigns and stable supply of units have outweighed the unfavorable effects of the off-peak season to the overall sales growth,” said Campi President Rommel Gutierrez.
He noted that historically, July is one of the lean months of the industry. Gutierrez expressed optimism that the industry would improve its sales performance this year, given a sustained growth trend.
On a month-on-month basis, sales growth was slower at a meager 0.4 percent, against 31,950 units recorded in June 2019.
Year-to-date sales saw an improvement of 3.16 percent at 205,945 units, compared with 199,628 units in the same period last year.
Alberto Suansing, and engineer and a special adviser to Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade, said that for every 100 new cars sold, about 40 ply within traffic congested National Capital Region.
“There are cars registered outside Metro Manila, say Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon, but they continue to travel the streets of the National Capital Region,” he said in a phone interview.