Philippine motor vehicle output behind ASEAN neighbors

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines continued to lag behind its Southeast Asian neighbors in motor vehicle production as tepid demand further trimmed output in the first quarter.

Data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation showed the Philippines assembled 19,599 motor vehicles in the three months to March, down 13 percent from a year ago.

Myanmar, which is in turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in February, expectedly posted the biggest drop in motor vehicle output at 77 percent to only 934 units as of end-March.

This was followed by Indonesia, which registered a 22 percent drop in motor vehicle output to 255,312 units in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, those with higher motor vehicle output during the three-month period are Vietnam, which went up 47 percent year-on year to 47,699 units; Malaysia which climbed 35.7 percent to 147,086 units; and Thailand which rose 2.7 percent to 465,833 units.

Total motor vehicles produced in ASEAN slid 1.3 percent to 936,463 units as of end-March from 949,113 units in the same period last year.

The Philippines, however, recovered in terms of vehicle sales like most countries in Southeast Asia, selling 70,312 units in the January to March period, up nine percent from a year ago despite the imposition of lockdowns amid a surge in coronavirus cases and the imposition of provisional safeguard duties on vehicle imports.

Motor vehicle sales in ASEAN’s automotive hub Thailand grew 21.8 percent to 243,641 units as of end-March. In Malaysia, sales went up 32.5 percent to 139,499 units, while Vietnam registered a 35.6 percent uptick as it sold 70,952 units.

The number of vehicles sold in Singapore rose slightly to 18,393 units as of end-March.

On the other hand, motor vehicle sales in Myanmar fell 50.6 percent to 3,113 units in the first quarter while sales in Indonesia posted a bigger drop of 21 percent to 187,021 units.

As of end-March, ASEAN sold 732,931 motor vehicles, a seven percent growth from the 683,537 units in the same period last year.