The latest numbers from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) are out, and it seems the year-on-year (YOY) decline across the board has continued in April.
The industry finished the first quarter with a 9.8% drop in sales YOY. Combined with April’s numbers, that figure has increased to 11.8%. In total, the industry has sold 132,867 units so far this year, significantly lower compared to last year’s 150,654 over the same period.
There are plenty of bright spots, however. For one, purchases of electrified vehicles have continued to pick up. While battery electric vehicle sales slowed down in April, there was decent growth for hybrid vehicles and a huge uptick as for plug-in hybrids. There was also one significant winner last month: Geely.
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Fresh off the launch of its newest plug-in hybrid, the EX5 EM-i, the Chinese carmaker soared to fourth among all carmakers in April, finishing with 1,119 vehicles sold. Of this total, 90 were BEVs which was second only to Tesla’s 92. Meanwhile, 493 were PHEVs, which was far ahead of second-placer Jetour’s 387.
Overall, Geely now sits at 12th in terms of year-to-date sales. Elsewhere, however, it’s mostly still the same for the top carmakers. Toyota Motor Philippines still sits comfortable at the top with 66,206 vehicles sold, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines in second with 24,371, Suzuki Philippines in third with 6,289, Nissan Philippines in fourth with 5,323, and Ford Philippines in fifth with 4,877. Worth noting, however, that all top five brands’ YOY performances have dropped. With the exception of Toyota, the brands’s sales decreased significantly.
We’re keeping a close eye on these numbers as the year progresses. As we’ve mentioned before, BYD Cars Philippines’ sales aren’t part of this report as the brand isn’t a member of CAMPI. Meanwhile, the former top BEV brand VinFast recorded zero units sold in April.
“This continues the rising trend we have been observing the past few years. xEV adoption is mainly driven by users’ growing understanding and acceptance of electrified technologies,” said CAMPI president Jose Maria Atienza. “We expect this to grow further because of the country’s need for various energy efficient vehicles.
“Rising oil prices will surely influence the Filipino motorists driving and vehicle purchase behavior,” he added. “This will not only accelerate the preference for electrified vehicles but may also highlight the practicality of energy efficient vehicles like smaller and lower displacement cars. The auto industry will evolve based on the market’s requirement.”
