Vehicle sales in March went up , but growth in the first quarter of the year was almost flat.

This was learned from a joint report released recently by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines and the Truck Manufacturers Association.

In their report, CAMPI and TMA said a total of 22,065 units were sold between January and March, or only 0.4 higher than the 21,972 units sold in the same period in 2005.

But last month, local assemblers sold 6,319 units as against the 6,007 sold in March, 2005.

Three factors—stable supply, promotions and fleet sales delivery—were the reasons given in the good outcome of sales in the first quarter.

However, the two groups, in a newspaper item, said the improvement "might also be the start of a positive effect on industry sales given the Supreme Court ruling against imported used vehicles as buyers, in turn, become more cognizant of the medium-term effects on those vehicles.":

In the same item, they said " industry sales were seen to gain momentum once the firms' problem on the 70-percent value-added cap was remedied".

"The companies want full recovery of their input VAT credits from their business operations," the two groups said.

CAMPI and TMA are optimistic overall sales will increase in the coming months should political and economic conditions coupled with a strong peso continue.

As usual, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. stayed on top as far as sales is concerned with a big 40.1-percent share of the market.

It sold 8,848 units in the last three months, up by 17.8 percent.

In the first quarter, car sales went up by 32.7 percent to 2,982 units from 2,247 units in 2005.

Sales of commercial cars increased by 0.8 percent as 13,726 units were sold compared to 13,615 units last year.

Thanks to the introduction of new models, March sales of Commercial Vehicles increased by 41.9 percent (5,337 units from 3,760 units).

First quarter sales of AUVs went down 12.3 percent to 5,581 units while those of light trucks dropped by 2.3 percent (363 units) .

Sales of light commercial cars (pickups, vans, compact sports utility vehicles) went up by 13 percent (7,662 units) while those of trucks and buses grew by 17.6 percent (120 units).