Philippines seen overtaking Thailand in motorcycle sales by 2020

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine motorcycle industry seeks to race past Thailand in terms of sales by 2020 behind sustained strong appetite of Filipinos for two-wheeled motor vehicles.

The Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA), the premier group of motorcycle manufacturers in the Philippines, said motorcycle sales in the country is seen expanding to 2.5 million units by 2020.

“By 2020, we see around 2.5 million units. Factors that would drive growth are the need for increased mobility and affordable financing. Using motorcycles as a means of transport is economic and sensible than using public transport in the long run, at least for the next four years or so,” MDPPA president Rodel Pablo told The STAR.

Such acceleration of motorcycle sales is expected to position the country second largest in Southeast Asia, behind Indonesia and ahead of Thailand.

“Yes, that is possible and note that Thailand has only 70 million population. In fact, maybe even by 2018 (we can overtake them already),” MDPPA chairman for government committee Alfredo Lejano said.

Thailand’s motorcycle sales have declined 15 percent in 2014 and further slipped four percent to 1.64 million units last year, data from the ASEAN Automotive Federation showed.

Philippine motorcycle sales, meanwhile, have been blazing as it bucked the regional downtrend in 2015 to end as the region’s sole growth motorcycle market with an eight percent year-on-year growth.

As of the first half of the year, the Philippine motorcycle industry was able to sustain its growth momentum and emerged as the fastest growing market in the region, registering a 42.4 percent year-on-year sales jump.

Despite the high growth rate, MDPPA said there remains plenty of room for progress for the industry given that the motorcycle ratio in the Philippines is still at 20:1 compared to 4:1 in some countries in the region.

The group sees total industry sales for the motorcycle segment accelerating between 1.4 million to 1.5 million units by year-end from last year’s 1.1 million to 1.2 million units.

Of that number, MDPPA member companies are expected to contribute a little over one million units.

MDPPA members which include Honda Philippines Inc., Kawasaki Motors Philippines Inc., Yamaha Motor Philippines Inc., Suzuki Philippines Inc. and Kymco Philippines Inc. account for 70 percent of the country’s total motorcycle sales.

Aside from its robust motorcycle industry, the Philippines is also poised to become a major automotive market in Southeast Asia by 2020 as domestic sales are expected to continue posting stellar growth while local production is seen ramping up with the government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program.

For the automotive sector, industry sales are projected to reach 500,000 units by 2020.