Philippines trails in motorcycle output, sales in Asean

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines still lagged behind its peers in the Southeast Asian region in terms of motorcycle production and sales, registering declines of 28.2 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively, as of end-April, according to the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Automotive Federation (AAF).

AAF data showed the Philippines produced 299,239 units of motorcycles in the four-month period, down from 416,527 units a year ago.

Apart from the Philippines, the only other country which cut its motorcycle production in the four-month period was Thailand, which fell 3.5 percent to 647,211 units this year from 671,008 units last year.

Malaysia, meanwhile, saw its motorcycle output grow 21.3 percent to 178,823 units as of end-April from the previous year’s 147,406 units.

Total motorcycles produced in Asean slid 8.9 percent to 1.13 million units in the January to April period from 1.23 million units a year ago.

In terms of motorcycle sales, the Philippines registered a 9.7 percent decline to 451,283 units as of end-April from 499,560 units last year.

Thailand also registered slightly lower motorcycle sales at 582,454 units as of end-April from the previous year’s 586,694 units.

Other countries in the region such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore all recorded higher sales year-on-year.

In particular, Indonesia sold 2.28 million motorcycle units in the January to April period, 11.8 percent higher than the 2.04 million units a year ago.

Malaysia’s motorcycle sales went up 19 percent to 176,459 units as of end-April from 148,311 units last year.

Singapore motorcycle sales surged 184.4 percent to 6,451 units in the four-month period from the previous year’s 2,268 units.

As of end-April, Asean sold a total of 3.5 million motorcycles, a 6.8 percent increase from 3.28 million units last year.