Philippine vehicle production accelerates in H1

Total output still lags behind rest of Asean

MANILA, Philippines - Motor vehicle production in the Philippines posted the second highest growth in Southeast Asia in the first half but remained at the tail end in terms of total output.

Data from the Asean Automotive Federation showed locally-assembled motor vehicles rose 8.7 percent in the first semester to 45,662 units from 42,020 units during the same period last year.

The country’s 8.7 percent growth came second to the 45.3 percent year-on-year hike recorded by Vietnam.

However, the country still had the lowest output in the Southeast Asian region with Thailand leading the pack, having produced 935,251 units in the first half. 

Trailing behind were Indonesia with 577,507 units, and Malaysia and Vietnam with 327,664 units and 78,596 units, respectively.

Overall, vehicles produced in the region declined 3.8 percent to 1.96 million units from 2.04 million units a year ago.

In terms of vehicle sales, the Philippines managed to post the third fastest ascent, growing 20.7 percent year-on-year followed by Singapore’s 72.2 percent climb and Vietnam’s 66.8 percent growth.

The Philippines finished the first half with a total 131,465 motor vehicle units sold, placing it fourth highest in the  region.

Singapore sold 525,458 units from January to June followed by Thailand with 369,109 units and Malaysia with 322,184 units.

Sales from Brunei and Vietnam were the lowest at 7,884 units and 91,790 units, respectively.

Total sales among the seven Asean vehicle markets dropped 7.9 percent in the first half to 1.48 million units from 1.61 million in the same period last year.

The Philippines is hoping to ramp up vehicle production in the country through the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program which seeks to encourage local car assembly through incentives and allow industry players to become more competitive and tap opportunities in the regional supply chain.