Philippines among growth markets for vehicles in Asean

One of only 3 countries with higher sales this year 

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine automotive market remained one of only three countries in Southeast Asia to register growth in the 10 months to October this year, data from the Asean Automotive Federation showed.

Vehicle sales in the Philippines accelerated with the third fastest pace in region in the January to October 2015 period, surging 22.4 percent to 234,951 units from the previous year’s 192,005 units.

The country also sold the most number of vehicles last month at 28,667 units, surpassing September’s 27,069 units, data collated by the Asean Automotive Federation showed.

Singapore was the region’s fastest growing automotive market in terms of sales with a 61.2 percent growth during the 10-month period, followed by Vietnam with 59 percent.

Sales of the other markets in the region, meanwhile, were in the negative as of October, with Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand recording double-digit drops.

Overall, motor vehicles sold in the seven-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations declined 6.2 percent to 2.49 million units this year from 2.65 million the previous year.

The country’s vehicle production, meanwhile, saw growth compared to the same period last year but continued to lag behind its regional counterparts.

Locally-assembled motor vehicles rose 8.6 percent to 83,874 units in the 2015 period from last year’s 77,216 units.

October’s production of 10,110 units failed to top September’s output of 10,253 units – the highest so far for the country this year.

Production in Thailand remained the largest in the region with 1.60 million units followed by Indonesia with 940,495 units and Malaysia with 519,171 units.

Total vehicles produced in the region in the January to October period dipped 2.2 percent to 3.30 million units from 3.35 million units produced in the same period last year.

Vehicle production in the country is seen to pickup pace once the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program takes full effect.

CARS seeks to encourage local car assembly through incentives and allow industry players to become more competitive and tap opportunities in the regional supply chain.

Players are currently waiting for the government to release the program’s implementing rules and regulations before finalizing their decision to join the program.