By Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
PASSENGER cars still take the backseat when it comes to Filipino motorists’ choice of vehicles.
Although passenger car sales showed almost a 30-percent improvement in January compared to the same period last year, and commercial vehicles grew 12 percent for the same period, overall sales of commercial vehicles continue to dominate overall market sales with an almost 70-percent market share.
Carmakers see this trend continuing for the year, as revealed in a statement by Elizabeth Lee, president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc (Campi).
The sales trend was shown in the January 2008 auto industry vehicles sales released to the press by the Campi Feb. 8.
The commercial vehicle segment is the largest category in the market. New models introduced last year boosted sales for January with total first month sale of 5,844 units. Campi forecast strong sales in this segment to continue in the coming months.
Commercial vehicles include multipurpose vehicles such as AUVs (Asian utility vehicles), pickups, vans, compact wagons or compact sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and full-sized SUVs.
Lee said that space is a good consideration for buyers as well.
“Pinoy buyers are smart and well-informed and would make the best purchase choices based on value for money and utility in exchange for their hard earned money,” Lee said in a phone interview.
Of the CVs, Lee cited AUVs, pickups, vans and compact wagons as the most popular. She said that growth of the sales rests on the back of these popular vehicles.
Campi also cited sales of LCVs (light commercial vehicles) of which pickups, vans, compact and full-sized SUVs belong to, showed an overall growth of 20 percent compared to the same period last year sustained by the influx of new models.
Most popular vehicles
CVs are the most popular vehicles both due to their inherent versatility and utility. You can use them both for business and personal use. It answers purchase requirements of most buyers regarding value for money for dual or multipurpose use.
This is validated by the sales figures and growth figures especially for the light commercial vehicle segment which comprise of pickups, vans and car wagons.
Preferred by big families
Toyota Philippines’ public relations officer Elijah Marcial told the Inquirer that the car manufacturer’s bulk of commercial vehicle sales have come from multipurpose vehicles at 42 percent.
Marcial surmised that because CVs are bigger, have more capacity and are multipurpose and with more affordable variants, it may seem that multipurpose vehicles (MPVs), which are part of CVs, are preferred particularly by big Filipino families. CVs, she said, could also be used for business.
Arlan Reyes, assistant advertising and promotions manager of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., said SUVs, which are part of commercial vehicles, are patronized because of their “porma” (status symbol) while the rest of the CVs are purely for commercial business use.
“Cars are more for personal use while SUVs are more for status symbol,” Reyes says.
Another trend had been observed: although overall sales from December 2007 to January 2008 registered a decline overall, this was expected due to the buying “cycle,” wherein December traditionally registered the highest sales.
A good sign
Lee said the auto industry started this year with a 17-percent increase in January compared to the same period last year.
The industry sold a total of 8,808 units in January, which she said is “a good sign for the rest of the year.”
Passenger car sales increased by 28.5 percent for January compared to the same period last year.
“The robust growth for the passenger car market is seen to continue in the coming months. The new models introduced last year are seeing more positive results translated to sales in the first month of the year,” Lee said.
