INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: Why CAMPI's 2022 numbers could have been better

There is no doubt that 2022 was a fine year for the Philippine auto industry. 

Likely buoyed by the May 2022 elections and relaxed pandemic restrictions, a recent report from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that 352,596 units were sold by its members for 2022’s entirety, compared to 2021’s 268,488. In that regard, one could definitely put the local auto industry as a winner, given its aforementioned output. 

That said, this poster and the AutoFun.ph deem that not all brands came out as winners. There were those who fell short of their targets our outright performed worse than 2021. Without further ado, here's a snapshot of the winners and the not-so-winners of the Philippine automotive industry in 2022. 

Good job!

Light commercial vehicles are bouncing back

Light commercial vehicles (LCVs) sold 208,728 units in 2022, compared to 2021’s 141,321 units. For reference, 260,744 LCVs were sold in 2019’s entirety, and 286,249 LCVs were sold in 2017. 

Even if the 2022 LCV sales tally didn’t breach 2017 or 2019 levels, the fact that sales breached the 200,000 mark is good news despite the pandemic. 

Japanese LCVs on the uptick

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP or Toyota), Mitsubishi, Honda, Isuzu, Nissan, and even Suzuki Philippines Inc.-Auto (SPI or Suzuki) all reported significant sales increases in their respective 2022 LCV sales. 

For example, Toyota logged close to the 100,000 mark in 2022 LCV sales (good for more than a third of the Philippine LCV market share at 36.30 percent), with 96,820 units compared to 58,186 units in 2021.

At the other end of the positive growth spectrum, Suzuki reported 9,366 LCVs brought home by customers in 2022 (with 17.8 percent market share), compared to the 8,260 non-passenger cars brought home by Suzuki owners in 2021.

New players show the way

United Asia Automotive Group Inc. (Chery), Sojitz G Auto Philippines (Geely), and Hyundai Motor Philippines Inc. (Hyundai) each reported four-digit sales for a good chunk of the previous calendar year.

Chery and its roster of sport utility vehicles or SUVs (Tiggo 2, Tiggo 5, Tiggo 7, and Tiggo 8) logged 3,142 SUVs sold in the past year.

Meanwhile, Geely’s official distributor got 3,942 units sold from August-December 2022, per CAMPI-TMA official numbers.

And in its first year under new management, Hyundai managed to get 2,350 customers of its Creta, Tucson, Santa Fe, Palisade, Stargazer, Staria, and H-100 utility runners. This despite only starting operations on July 1, 2022. 

Passenger cars, for BMW and Mitsubishi

Two longtime players in the local auto market, with different market segments and market orientations, reported good news when it came to passenger cars (PCs).

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (Mitsubishi) and its Mirage mini-compact PC logged some 12,215 units sold, good for a 14.22 percent market share in the segment and second overall for the PC arena. And that's despite the Mirage being the sole PC model in Mitsubishi’s current roster. 

In contrast, Toyota, with its Wigo, Vios, Yaris, Corolla Altis, Camry, and 86 passenger car models, was the sole automaker above Mitsubishi with 50,450 PCs sold in 2022.

On the other hand, SMC Asia Car Distributors Corporation (BMW) was the only luxury car distributor outside of Toyota/Lexus to sell more than 1,000 PCs. BMW sold some 1,160 units of its 1-Series, 2-Series, 3-Series, 4-Series, 5-Series, 7-Series, and Z4 cars in 2022, good for a 1.35 percent overall PC market share.

Teutonic rival Mercedes Benz, in contrast, sold 738 units for a 0.86 percent overall PC market share.  

The not-so-hot

Passenger cars on a downtrend

Even with a 7.47 percent increase in total PC sales from 2021 to 2022 (85,260 PCs sold in 2021 versus 85,897 PCs sold in 2022), the PC market wasn’t exactly booming this past year. Compare that with the overall LCV market, which went up 40-odd percent.

Not even established brands in Philippine motoring were spared. Toyota, despite topping the segment with 50,450 PCs sold, wasn’t as good as its 2021 PC sales output of 53,728 units.

Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (Honda) also reported negative growth, with 8,501 PCs sold compared to 9,110 PCs sold in 2021.

Suzuki also was hit hard by lackluster PC sales, with 7,029 Celerios, DZires, and Swifts sold in 2022 versus its 8,079 PCs sold in 2021. Not even Coventry Motors Corporation (official distributor of Jaguar and Land Rover) was spared, as only 20 Jaguars were purchased in 2022, compared to 31 Jaguars in 2021. 

Foton

The reason Foton Motor Philippines Inc. (Foton) was included in this category was its less-than-stellar sales results in the heavier commercial vehicle segments.

In the light trucks (Category Three) arena, 368 Fotons were purchased, compared to 385 Fotons in 2021. Category Four was also in the red for Foton, as 730 Foton trucks and buses were acquired by customers, compared to 923 Foton trucks and buses bought by buyers in 2021.

The heavy lifting Category Five trucks and buses wasn’t much of a boon for the China manufacturer too. Why? 180 units were purchased by would-be owners, compared to 267 units in 2021. 

To be fair, Foton did perform well in the LCV setting, with 2,193 units sold versus 1,292 units in 2021. However, since Foton was banking on making itself a mobility solutions provider to a lot of businesses, the marque’s 2022 sales performance overall is head-scratching. 

This means that the automaker will have to work double time to better 2022’s or even 2021's results and improve its market visibility. The upcoming “Foton’s Big Show 2023” at the World Trade Center (Pasay City) on 10-12 February 2023 (Friday-Sunday) should help them out a bit.

Volkswagen and Maxus

Even with the backing of corporate giant Ayala Corporation, Automobile Central Enterprise Inc.  the official Philippine distributor of Volkswagen and Maxus) products barely made a dent in both PC and LCV theaters of operation. Their 258 PCs sold were bettered by the 563 PCs sold by Geely from August to December 2022, Bermaz Auto Philippines Inc.’s (Mazda’s) 334 PCs, and even Auto Nation Group Inc.’s (Mercedes Benz’s) 738 PCs.

ACEI’s Light Commercial Vehicles fared slightly better, with 346 units sold. However, that paled in comparison to the four- and even five-digit LCVs sold by other automakers.

Only Land Rover (285 units), Berjaya Auto Asia Inc./Kaicene (185 units), SsangYong Berjaya Motor Philippines Inc./SsangYong (77), and Pilipinas Taj Autogroup Inc./Tata Motors (70) ranked below the ACEI LCV sales output.  

Nissan, LCV sales

That didn’t reflect on its LCV sales, however, as 18,294 Nissan haulers were sold to customers in 2022, compared to 17,141 Nissan utility runners in 2021. That’s a difference of 1,153 LCVs sold between the aforementioned calendar years.

That’s rather paltry compared to, say, Isuzu, which sold 12,955 LCVs in 2022 and 9,994 LCVs in 2021 - a difference of 2,961 units sold between 2022 and 2021, with just two LCV models in the D-Max pickup and the mu-X SUV. 

Another Japanese automaker worth comparing is Honda. The manufacturer sold 5,422 utility vehicles in 2022 and 3,512 LCVs in 2021. That’s a difference of 1,910 units sold between 2022 and 2021, with just three LCVs in the HR-V, BR-V, and CR-V.

Considering that both Isuzu and Honda were able to make more with fewer nameplates on their respective LCV rosters than Nissan, it’s safe to say that Nissan’s 2022 LCV sales output compared to its utility vehicle lineup was not that encouraging.

All told, listed here are significant points from the 2022 overall sales report of the Philippine auto industry as per CAMPI's perspective.

• Light commercial vehicles sold more than passenger cars, by a near 3:1 ratio

• Brands under new ownerships performed well, with four-figure sales tallies

• Even with just one passenger car model, Mitsubishi held its own in the segment

• Some marques with three or fewer utility vehicle models managed to outsell brands with five or six light commercial vehicle nameplates

• Some brands need to shape up and take advantage of the post-pandemic sales boom expected in 2023