The latest joint report of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that the Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV) category dominates the sales, but a closer look also revealed that a relatively new Chinese-owned carmaker poses as a formidable contender in the growing roster of car players in the domestic market.
Data showed that GAC Motor PH, listed under BA Motors Philippines Inc. in the 31-member firms of CAMPI-TMA, registered the biggest growth in AUV sales at 110.3 percent increase for selling 305 units year to date (Jan-Sept 2024) from 145 units in the same period last year.
In September this year alone, GAC sold 40 units, a whopping 233.3 percent increase from 12 units sold in September last year.
Of course, the old players still dominate the AUV scene volume wise. There were a total of 60,101 units or 37.4 percent higher than the 43,667 units sold in the same nine-month period last year. For September, the AUV sales growth further improved to 43.8 percent.
AUVs (Category I) or the multi-purpose category, also includes such models Avanza, Xpander, Innova, Stargazer, among others.
This category accounts for 23.67 percent share of the total 344,307 units sold by CAMPI-TMA in the Jan-Sept period this year.
In the LCV front (Category II), GAC also posted the biggest jump in growth to 118.4 percent having sold 2,132 units year to date from 976 units same period in 2023. In September alone, GAC sales went up 42 percent, third only from KP Motors (47.9%) and Suzuki Philippines Inc. (47.8%).
Category II includes segments of pick-up (Triton, HiLux, Ranger, etc.), vans (Urvan, HiAce, etc), sports utility vehicles (Fortuner, Montero Sport, etc), and, utility cabs (L300, etc).
GAC ranked 12th in the overall CAMPI-TMA list in terms of vehicle sales. It plans to operate a total of 38 dealers by the end of this year from the current 29.
Overall, the 31-member CAMPI-TMA sold a total of 344,307 units or 9.4 percent higher compared to the same Jan-Sept 2023 sales of 314,843 units.
CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez
CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez said they are retaining their 10 percent sales growth target this year to 468,000 units versus over last year.
