AUTO sales rebounded in May from a month earlier but remained substantially lower on a yearly basis, industry data released on Thursday showed.
Overall industry sales for May rose by 6.9 percent to “around 35,200,” the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) said in a statement.
Of this, Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association accounted for 33,532 units, up 23.8 percent from April’s 27,089 but 15.7 percent lower compared to May 2025’s 39,775 units.
The bread-and-butter commercial vehicle category posted a 24.7-percent gain to 26,840 units from 21,527 a month earlier, but fell 15.8 percent versus the year-ago 31,880 units.
Passenger car sales grew by 20.3 percent to 6,692 units from 5,562, but again were lower — by 15.2 percent — year on year reckoned against May 2025’s 7,895 units.
Commercial vehicle sales for January to May totaled 134,882 units, down 11.1 percent from 151,704 a year earlier, while passenger cars posted a 16.2-percent drop to 32,442 from 38,725 units.
Electric vehicles (EVs) remained a bright spot, up 66.8 percent year on year to 6,027 units from just 3,613 a year ago. Sales, however, fell by 4.3 percent from April’s 6,07 units.
Year to date, EV sales rose by 133.5 percent to 24,356 units from 10,431 in January-May 2025.
Campi said that May “historically... serves as a rebound month after a lean April market.”
Campi President Jose Maria Atienza, meanwhile, said that a “focus on energy efficiency” remained a primary factor in buying decisions.
“We continue to observe expanding demand for various types of electrified vehicles, with cumulative January-May sales already doubling vs. last year,” he said.
“xEVs (the industry’s umbrella term for all kinds of EVs) now account for 18 percent of the total market, up by nine points from the previous year,” Atienza continued.
“The accelerating growth trend is only held back by availability constraints resulting from the sudden surge in demand.”
Toyota Motor Philippines remained the market leader with 17,076 units sold in May, up 19.5 percent month on month but down 13.4 percent on an annual basis.
Year to date, Toyota saw a 9.1-percent drop in sales to 83,282 units, enough for a market share of 49.77 percent.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines was again second with 5,415 units sold last month, up 43.6 percent from April but down 20.9 percent compared to a year earlier.
Its five-month tally of 29,786 units — 17.80 percent of overall sales — was 18.6 percent less than January-May 2025.
Suzuki Philippines took third place with 1,441 units, 7.6 percent up from April and 24.6 percent lower on an annual basis. The company’s January to May total was 7,730 units, down 13.3 percent and equivalent to a 4.62-percent market share.
Overall electric vehicle sales rankings were not provided but Campi-TMA data showed Tesla Motors Philippines Inc. leading May battery EV sales at 829 units. Year to date, however, VinFast Auto Philippines Corp. sold the most at 2,283 units.
Plugin EV sales for last month and January-May were led by Jetour Auto Phil Inc. at 463 units and 1,400 units, respectively.
Toyota dominated hybrid EV sales, with 1,769 units sold in May and 10,110 units year to date.
