The continued uptick in demand locally for motor vehicles has helped push Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC) to log its best monthly tally in the company’s 19-year history.

Citing combined data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA), IPC said its sales in March reached 2,437 units. The total sees a solid 27.1 percent jump from the 1,917 units the company had sold in March 2015.

IPC’s first quarter tally in 2016 is also a remarkable 32.7 percent spike compared to its performance during the same period last year. Deliveries of Isuzu vehicles in the first three months of this year totaled 6,579 units while those made in the comparable period of 2015 reached 4,957 units.

The company’s sales in March are also a 12.9 percent increase over the previous month’s result.

“The robust performance of Isuzu Philippines in the first quarter of 2016, and specifically in March, is a reflection of the local automotive industry’s continued growth, which in turn is boosted by a buoyant economy that definitely encourages consumer spending. Still, we are pleasantly surprised that our growth has actually outpaced that of the industry, and we credit in part our sustained promotional efforts and relevant lineup of vehicles for the rise,” said IPC President Hajime Koso.

Lifting IPC’s tally is the Isuzu mu-X SUV model, whose sales in the first three months of the year never dipped below 1,000 units. In March the SUV’s deliveries reached 1,198, and a total of 3,236 during the first three months of the year.

Helping in the company’s March result are the steady sales of the Isuzu Crosswind utility model (395 units) and D-MAX pickup (358). Together with the mu-X, Isuzu’s light commercial vehicle lineup has posted a 32.3 percent rise in the first quarter of 2016, or a total of 5.275 units sold versus the 3,986 units moved during the same months last year.

Sales of Isuzu truck models in the first quarter of 2016 leaped 34.3 percent to 1,304 units, 333 more than the total delivered during 2015’s comparable period. The brand’s light-duty N-Series trucks comprised the bulk of the total with 776 units moved, 268 of which accounted for March’s result.