Philippines fastest growing market for motor vehicles in SEA

MANILA, Philippines — Motor vehicle production in the Philippines continued to grow in the first quarter, zooming by 68.6 percent, the fastest in Southeast Asia.

Based on data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF), 30,582 motor vehicles were assembled in the Philippines from January to March, significantly higher compared to 18,137 in the same period last year.

Malaysia posted the second highest growth rate of 28.7 percent followed by Thailand (5.8 percent) and Indonesia (5.7 percent).

On the other hand, Myanmar posted the largest decline at 95.6 percent, followed by Vietnam with a 29.5 percent contraction.

A total of 1.168 million motor vehicles were assembled in the region from January to March, 8.2 percent higher than the 1.08 million units in the same period last year.

The Philippines also posted the highest growth rate in motor vehicle sales during the period at 30.1 percent, selling a total of 97,284 units, higher than the 74,754 units sold in the same period a year ago.

The country was followed by Malaysia and Indonesia with growths of 20.4 percent and seven percent  in the first quarter, respectively.

In contrast, Myanmar posted the largest decline in motor vehicle sales at 84.8 percent.

Three other ASEAN countries also posted declines in motor vehicle sales in the period: Vietnam (22.2 percent), Thailand (6.1 percent) and Singapore (4.3 percent).

Motor vehicle sales in the ASEAN rose by 4.3 percent to 869,853 units from January to March from 833,825 units in the same period last year.

Data from the AAF also showed that the Philippines’ motorcycle and scooter production jumped by 58.9 percent in the first three months to 362,365 units, the highest growth among ASEAN countries tracked by AAF.

Both Malaysia and Thailand also posted increases in motorcycle and scooter production at 25.2 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively.

Motorcycles and scooters assembled within the ASEAN jumped by 30.4 percent   to 1.11 million units.

The Philippines also registered an increase of 16.7 percent in motorcycle and scooter sales, to 447,429 units from 383,355 units.

Malaysia posted the highest increase in motorcycle and scooter sales during the review period at 22.3 percent, to 169,764 units.

Thailand also posted a 13 percent increase in motorcycle and scooter sales, while Singapore registered a 1.9 percent decline.

Motorcycle and scooter sales in ASEAN increased by 15.8 percent to 1.13 million units from 973,219 units in the same period last year.