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Survey shows consumer demand shifting to LCVs

Survey shows consumer demand shifting to LCVs

A survey of the best-selling models of the automotive industry’s Top 10 Sales Performers as of year-to-date September 2021 indicates consumer demand shifting to LCVs (light commercial vehicles) – especially light duty trucks and vans — despite or because of the continuing pandemic lockdown economy.


In fact, three brands named an LCV as their No. 1 best seller: the L300 van (8,033 units sold) for Mitsubishi Motors PH Corp., the Carry mini truck (2,752 units) for Suzuki PH, Inc., and the Traviz light truck (3,166 units) for Isuzu PH Corp. 
Furthermore, Isuzu listed the QKR, a light duty truck most of us have never heard of before, as its No. 3 best-seller with 848 units sold.


And it was the first time that the Ertiga 7-seater MPV, Suzuki’s heretofore perennial No. 1 best-seller, was replaced by another model – and by a light truck at that.


Nissan PH, Inc. named its Urvan (2,407 units sold) as its No. 2 best-seller, while Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) listed its H-100 (number sold not revealed) also as its No. 2 best-seller.


KP Motors Corp., the distributor of Kia, listed the K2500 light truck as its third best-seller with 460 units sold.
Sport utility vehicles, crossovers, multipurpose vehicles (MPVs), vans, pickup trucks and light duty trucks are considered LCVs.  

Here’s the list of the Top 3 best-selling models and the number of units sold per model (except Hyundai) of the Top 10 sales performers YTD September 2021


They dominate the 30 models listed as best-sellers by the 10 brands, resulting in the inclusion of only 8 sedans and/or hatchbacks: the Toyota Vios, the champion across all segments with 24,466 units sold, the Toyota Wigo (12,606 units sold), Mitsubishi Mirage G4 (4,567 units), Suzuki S-Presso (2,554 units), Honda City (2,740 units), Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Reina, and Kia Soluto (589 units.) As mentioned before, HARI did not reveal the number of units sold per model.


Segment leaders

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Scanning the list shown, one comes up with the leaders in various market segments YTD September 2021.
Among pickups, the Toyota Hilux reigns with 13,300 units sold, followed by the Ford Ranger as runner-up with 6,695 units and the Nissan Navara a close third with 6,238 units sold.  The Isuzu D-Max ranks fourth with 3,164 units sold.
In the midsize SUV/crossover segment, the Nissan Terra is first with 2,355 units sold and the Geely Okavango is second with 1,633 units sold.  Significantly enough, the Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Ford Everest, and Isuzu mu-X are not among the top 3 best-sellers of their respective brands.


In the compact crossover segment, the Honda Brio leads with 2,178 units sold, followed by the Geely Azkarra with 225 units.


The MPV segment has only two competitors: the Mitsubishi Xpander ranks first with 7,692 units sold and the Suzuki Ertiga is second with 2,655 units sold.


The crowded subcompact crossover segment is led by the Ford Territory (4,993 units sold) with the Geely Coolray second with 1,960 units sold, the Honda BR-V third (1,607 units) and the Kia Stonic fourth (955 units.)  The made-in-China Territory, a surprising success, helped Ford Motor Co. PH, Inc. regain third place in the Top 10 Sales Performers list at the end of the third quarter.