Philippine Auto Sales 2024: 475,094 vehicles sold, 7.64% growth
Philippine auto industry records 475,094 vehicles sold in 2024; misses 500,000 target
The Philippine automotive industry sold 475,094 vehicles in 2024; achieving a 7.64% growth compared to the previous year's 441,393 units total. This was based on the consolidated sales figures from CAMPI, TMA, AVID, and independent distributors.
Taking the lion's share as usual were Commercial Vehicles (which include SUVs, MPVs, pick-ups, crossovers, trucks, and buses), which comprised 74.51%, registering 353,998 units. Passenger car sales totaled 121,096 units, taking the remaining 25.49%. Based on this, consumer preference shifted towards light commercial vehicles as their vehicle of choice.
New brand entrants and new model offerings, increased economic activity, and financing accessibility were key drivers to the continued growth of the auto industry in 2024. However, demand tapered off during the last quarter as the industry missed its initial 500,000 unit milestone target.
Top 5 Brands
The Top 5 players remained unchanged from the previous year. Toyota continued its market dominance with a 45.41% market share with 215,756 units sold. Toyota sales grew 8.86% from last year's 198,188 units.
Mitsubishi Motors improved its second-place standing with 89,124 units compared to its 2023 total of 78,371 units sold. The three diamond star brand ended the year strong with a 13.72% growth and improved its market share to 18.76%.
Ford managed to keep its third overall position despite slipping by 10.61%, the Blue Oval marque sold a total of 27,997 units compared to its 31,320 units total sales in 2023. Its market share slid 5.89% from last year's 7.14%.
Nissan retained fourth position, its 26,774 unit total was 1.33% less than its previous year’s 27,136 unit total; taking a 5.64% market share.
Suzuki stays fifth, improving by 10.39% with sales of 20,371 units, the Japanese small car specialist improved its market share to 4.29%.
6-10
Isuzu maintained its sixth position with a relatively flat performance; the company sold 17,641 units against 17,639 units from the previous year. They however boasted of taking the top spot in truck sales for its 25th straight year.
Honda stayed seventh despite slipping 6.77% with 15,518 units sold compared to 16,645 units in 2023. Higher vehicle prices were seen as a hindrance to customers.
Hyundai improved on its eighth standing with 12,023 vehicles sold, gaining 31.69% compared to the previous year's 9,130 unit total. The Korean brand's performance continues to enjoy renewed interest and confidence from customers and banks.
MG improved to 9th with 9,016 units sold in 2024, up 58.76% from the previous year. 2024 was SAIC Motor Philippines's first full year as a national sales company with the MG brand.
Kia moves up to 10th with 6,692 units, 32.96% more than its 5,033 unit sales the previous year.
*Hyundai Truck & Bus and Volvo figures are only for H1 of 2024 as distributor HARIPhil Asia Resources Inc., has yet to submit H2 figures to us as of publication time.
Economic slowdown and political uncertainty were key factors for missing the 500,000 unit sales forecast by 4.98%. The Philippine GDP growth was recorded at 5.6% missing the 6-6.5% target earlier forecasted due to successive typhoons that ravaged many parts of the country.
Top 3 Premium Brands
Lexus retained its dominance of the premium segment with a 22.79% growth. The Japanese premium brand sold 2,263 units, completely reversing the trend of the segment as other marques experienced headwinds.
BMW remained second in the premium segment, selling 815 units, the German marque saw a 28.76% decrease from 2023's 1,133 unit total.
Mercedes-Benz placed third with 737 passenger vehicles sold against 2023’s 871 units, a 15.38% decline.
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Top 5 Truck Brands
Isuzu dominated commercial truck sales with 4,591 units, they led in the Light Truck (Cat III), Category IV Truck/Bus, and Category V Truck/Bus sub-segments. This represented a 5.1% decline from 4,838 units sold in 2023.
Hino stays second with a 2,344 cumulative total, with a 12.4% decline from its 2,676 unit total the previous year. Foton remained third with 1,645 units, jumping 29.32% from 1,272 units the previous year. Fuso jumped to fourth with 1,351 units, improving its performance by nearly 35% from 1,001 units sold in 2023. JMC took the last spot in the top 5 with 1,012 units sold, slipping 7.16% from 1,090.
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Key Movers in 2024
In 2024, we saw an influx of even more Chinese brands to the market. The top performers were BYD, GAC Motor, Jetour, and MG all making significant growth. AC Mobility's BYD saw an explosive performance moving 4,780 electrified vehicles compared to last year's 537 unit total, positioning itself in 11th; they target being one of the top 10 brands in 2025. GAC Motor continues its growth trend to 3,203 units with a 65.05% growth moving up to 13th place. Jetour surged 67.19% thanks to its Defender-inspired T2 SUV in its first full year of operations, which moved it up to 19th. MG which operated its first full year as a subsidiary grew 58.76%. Korean brands Hyundai and Kia, not wanting to be outdone grew by 31.69% and 32.96%, respectively.
Toyota Motor Philippines bested its 200,000 unit mark feat in 2023 with an annual total of 215,756 for only the Toyota brand; and with the Lexus brand combined 218,019.
Mitsubishi also saw significant gains, improving on its 78,371 units performance the prior year to a 13.72% gain as it moved 89,124 cars.
It's also interesting to finally see Ferrari sales figures as San Miguel Corporation-operated distributor Velocita Motors shared that they delivered 16 new cars to owners.
Brands that saw a serious sales slump in 2024 were BMW, Chery, Geely, Mini, and Subaru. BMW had a challenging year as it dropped out of the 1,000 unit mark, declining 28.76%. Chery sales slipped by 23.06% as an aging lineup failed to drive customers to showrooms as they faced competition with fresh new offerings.
Geely gets knocked down from 9th to 15th with a mere 2,684 units sold. The former rising Chinese star brand has since failed to recover from its 2023 aftersales fiasco. Despite being operated as a subsidiary in middle of the 2024, the brand failed to make its mark, and customer complaints of aftersales woes remain.
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The industry remains optimistic for 2025 as midterm elections are expected to increase the flow of money. New model introductions and the increased popularity of electrified vehicles are also expected to contribute to customer interest in new cars. With nearly 50 brands in competition, 2025 will be a buyer's market as brands are expected to try to outdo each other with attractive offers to woo customers.
In a call for unity in the auto industry, Toyota Motor Philippines Chairman Alfred V. Ty recently said that he expects the industry to achieve the 500,000-unit milestone this 2025.
*Chevrolet, Maserati, and PGA Cars (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Porsche) declined to release their 2024 sales figures; and are not included in the total volume.
