Motor vehicle production up 11% in 4 months

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine motor vehicle production expanded by 11 percent from January to April compared to a year ago, making the country the third fastest growing market in Southeast Asia for vehicle assembly operations.

Data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF) showed motor vehicles assembled in the Philippines rose to 42,395 units in the first four months from 38,274 units in the same period last year.

Myanmar posted the highest growth in motor vehicle production at 687.5 percent from January to April to 630 units from just 80 units in the same period a year ago, while Malaysia placed second with its motor vehicle output rising by 11.6 percent.

All the ASEAN countries tracked by the AAF registered declines in motor vehicle production in the January to April period such as Indonesia (down by 21.3 percent), Thailand (down by 17 percent) and Vietnam (down by 13 percent).

A total of 1.24 million motor vehicles were made in the region in the first four months, 12.7 percent lower than the 1.42 million units assembled in the same period a year ago.

In terms of sales in the first four months, motor vehicles sold in the Philippines climbed by nearly 15 percent to 146,920 units from the previous year’s 127,927 units.

This placed the Philippines as the third fastest growing country in motor vehicle sales in ASEAN in the first four months, trailing behind Myanmar, which posted a 72.3 percent increase in sales and Singapore with a 17 percent growth.

The Philippines, however, was ahead of Malaysia, which posted an 8.2 percent growth in sales. A drop in sales, however, was recorded in Vietnam (down by 11 percent), Indonesia (down by 22.8 percent) and Thailand (down by 24 percent).

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the faster growth in vehicle sales and production could be attributed to better incomes and spending power for more Filipinos amid the demographic sweet spot or dividend, with the majority of the country’s population already in the working age.

“Lack of mass transport system also helped sustain the double-digit growth in vehicle sales as well as more sales of electric and hybrid vehicles, modernization of transport fleet, new models, easier ownership terms such as low down payment, among others; despite relatively higher interest rates over the past two years,” he said.

Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. president Rommel Gutierrez said vehicle sales got a boost from the positive consumer and business confidence and stable automotive finance.

Sales of motor vehicles in ASEAN slid by 10.4 percent to 979,479 units in the January to April period from 1.09 million units in the same period last year.

When it comes to motorcycle and scooter production, the Philippines’ output declined by 6.3 to 425,946 units in the first four months from 454,446 units a year ago.

All other ASEAN countries covered by the AAF report saw their motorcycle and scooter production in the January to April period drop year-on-year by 20.4 percent in Malaysia, 7.1 percent in Thailand and 1.6 percent in Indonesia.

Motorcycles and scooters assembled in ASEAN declined by 4.3 percent to 3.57 million units from January to April compared to last year’s 3.73 million units.

Motorcycle and scooters sold in the Philippines also dipped by two percent to 541,104 units in the first four months from 552,765 units a year ago.

Other ASEAN countries which registered lower motorcycle and scooter sales during the review period are Malaysia (16.8 percent), Thailand (8.9 percent) and Indonesia (1.1 percent).

Only Singapore had higher motorcycle and scooter sales in the January to April period, posting a 14.2 percent increase to 4,071 units from 3,564 units in the same period a year ago.

Total motorcycle and scooter sales in ASEAN decreased by 3.5 percent to 3.45 million units from January to April compared to last year’s 3.58 million units.