Philippines among top 3 growth markets for auto sales in Asean

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine automotive industry continues to buck the downtrend in Southeast Asia wherein total vehicle sales retreated 3.5 percent to 236,930 units in January this year.

Vehicle sales in the Philippines managed to grow 27.6 percent year-on-year in January while sales in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand declined, latest data from the Asean Automotive Federation showed.

Singapore was the region’s fastest-growing automotive market during the month, posting an 89.7 percent sales increase followed by Vietnam (35.8 percent) and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Brunei’s vehicle sales plummeted 30.9 percent year-on-year. Indonesia and Thailand – the two biggest automotive markets in the region – fell 9.9 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.

In terms of volume, the Philippines had the fourth most number of cars sold among the seven Asean Automotive Federation members in January with 23,808 units.

Indonesia sold 84,885 units while Thailand and Malaysia sold 51,821 units and 44,591 units, respectively.

In terms of production, a total 8,826 units were assembled in the country in January, 36.4 percent higher from 6,470 units produced in the same month last year.

Aside from the Philippines, only Vietnam recorded higher year-on-year production among the five Asean Automotive Federation members that have local assembly operations.

Philippine vehicle production, however, remained at the bottom with Thailand producing 147,651 units, Indonesia at 83,587 units, Malaysia at 46,731 units and Vietnam at 16,150 units.