Vehicle sales slow down in January

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February 26, 2026 | 12:00am

But takeup of electric vehicles surges

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine automotive industry started 2026 with lower sales, but the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) remains optimistic that the country will hit record-high vehicle sales this year.

In a statement yesterday, CAMPI said total vehicle sales, based on its combined sales with the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) and other industry data, reached 35,053 units in January, down by 10 percent from a year ago.

The figure is also 26 percent lower than the 47,371 units sold in the previous month.

Of the total January sales, CAMPI and TMA members contributed 33,696 units, down by 10 percent from the 37,604 units in the same month last year.

Passenger car sales of CAMPI and TMA members dropped by 20 percent to 6,178 units in January from 7,729 units in the same month a year ago. Commercial vehicle sales also slid by 7.9 percent to 27,518 units in January from 29,875 units in the same month last year.

Sales of new electrified vehicles (NEVs) surged by 63 percent to 2,610 units in January from 1,600 units in the same period in 2025.

Of the NEVs, sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles posted the biggest growth of 2,978 percent to 277 units in January from just nine units in the same month a year ago.

Battery electric vehicle sales jumped by 78.8 percent to 261 units in January from 146 units in the same month last year.

Hybrid electric vehicle sales accelerated by 43 percent to 2,072 units in January from 1,445 units in the same month in 2025.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. accounted for the bulk or 48.5 percent share in CAMPI and TMA’s sales in January. This was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (20.8 percent), Suzuki Philippines Inc. (4.9 percent), Nissan Philippines Inc. (4.7 percent) and Ford Motor Co. Philippines Inc. (3.8 percent).

CAMPI president Jose Maria Atienza said the lower sales in the first month of the year was expected, citing the strong demand in the last month of 2025.

He also said that the December 2025 sales performance was the highest December sales record since 2017.

Despite the lower January sales, Atienza said “the industry is still on pace to meet its year-end goal of surpassing 500,000 sales.”

Last year, total automotive sales in the country covering CAMPI, TMA and other industry data reached 491,395 units, up by 3.7 percent from 473,842 units in 2024.

Of last year’s total vehicle sales, CAMPI and TMA accounted for 463,646 units, down slightly from 467,252 units in 2024.