Philippines remains worst performer in vehicle production in Asean

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines remained the worst performer in terms of motor vehicle production in Southeast Asia as it was the only country which registered a decline in output in the 11 months to November last year. 

Data from the Asean Automotive Federation showed the Philippines assembled 74,948 motor vehicles during the first 11 months, 44 percent lower than the 133,015 units produced in the same period in 2017.

All other Southeast Asian countries, meanwhile, posted year-on-year increases in motor vehicle production.

The region’s automotive production hub Thailand, saw its output rise nine percent year-on-year to nearly two million units as of end-November from 1.83 million units in 2017.

Indonesia’s vehicle output grew 9.9 percent to 1.24 million units in the 11-month period from 1.13 million units a year ago, while Malaysia manufactured 522,571 vehicles, 12.6 percent higher than the 463,993 units in 2017.

Vietnam’s vehicle output went up 2.9 percent to 184,051 units from 178,838 units in 2017, while Myanmar’s surged 134 percent to 10,863 units from 4,640 units a year ago.

A total of 4.03 million vehicles were assembled within Asean in the January to November period, 7.8 percent higher than the 3.74 million units in 2017.

In terms of vehicle sales, the Philippines was likewise among the three countries in the region which registered a decline during the reference period.

In particular, motor vehicles sales in the Philippines slid 14.4 percent to 325,465 units from January to November compared with the previous year’s 380,179 units.

Other countries which recorded lower car sales were Brunei, which saw sales dip slightly to 10,271 units as of end-November from 10,375 units in 2017, while Singapore’s sales were down 15.5 percent to 86,997 units in the 11-month period from 102,934 units a year ago.

Sales in Thailand, on the other hand, rose 21 percent to 928,158 units from 767,348 units in 2017, while Indonesia’s sales posted a 6.9 percent uptick to 1.06 million units from 994,436 units the previous year.

Other countries which had higher motor vehicle sales as of end-November are Malaysia, which saw sales increase 5.5 percent year-on-year to 550,526 units from  521,906 units; Vietnam with a 12 percent year-on-year growth to 253,956 units from 226,656 units; and Myanmar which saw a 110 percent year-on-year jump to 15,365 units from 7,303 units.

Motor vehicle sales in Asean climbed 7.4 percent to 3.23 million units in the January to November period from 3.01 million units a year ago.

Earlier, Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. president Rommel Gutierrez said the group expects recovery in sales this year, as consumers are likely to have adjusted to the higher taxes imposed on cars and as the industry benefits from election-related spending.