Philippine car sales soar to record high in first semester

Philippine car sales soared to a record high of 87,226 units in the first half of the year, according to a joint report issued Thursday by the Chamber of Automobile Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA). "With this excellent performance for the first semester and expected higher sales in the coming months, the industry is confident that it will reach and even exceed the initial 200,000 sales volume target for the entire year," CAMPI said in a statement. The industry's year to date sales is 20 percent higher than 72, 871 units in 2012. Passenger car sales, which account for a third of total industry sales, rose 28 percent on year to 28,035 units. Commercial vehicles, which accounted for 68 percent of total sales, increased 16 percent on year to 59,191 units. Toyota Motors Philippines Corporation sold the highest number of cars with 34,713 units, accounting for 40 percent of total market share. This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines with 21,282 units, which account for 24 percent of the total market share. For the month of June alone, car sales increased four percent on year to 14,239 units.