Philippines motor vehicle, motorcycle output down in H1

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine motor vehicle and motorcycle output continued to decline in the first semester and was among the lowest in the Southeast Asian region.

Based on a report from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation, Philippine motor vehicle production fell by 0.9 percent to 40,608 units in the January to June period from 40,982 units in the same period last year.

Other countries which assembled fewer motor vehicles in the first semester are Vietnam as it churned out 91,928 units as of end-June, 9.4 percent lower than the 101,459 units a year ago, and Indonesia with an output of 591,731 units in the first half, down 6.7 percent from the previous year’s 633,988 units.

Those which saw their motor vehicle production go up, meanwhile, are Thailand with a 0.9 percent uptick to 1.07 million units as of end-June from 1.06 million units last year, Malaysia with a 1.5 percent increase to 285,028 units from 280,947 units a year ago, and Myanmar with a 62.7 percent growth to 7,620 units from the previous year’s 4,683 units.

Total motor vehicle units assembled in the ASEAN dipped by 1.7 percent to 2.08 million units from January to June from 2.12 million units last year.

When it comes to motor vehicle sales, the Philippines posted growth but still lagged behind most of its neighbors.

Philippine motor vehicle sales climbed by 1.5 percent to 174,135 units as of end-June from 171,590 units a year ago.

It performed better than Indonesia which saw its sales decline by 13 percent to 481,577 units in the first half from the previous year’s 553,651 units, and Singapore which saw sales go up 1.3 percent to 49,094 units from last year’s 48,443 units.

The Philippines, however, was behind its other neighbors like Brunei which had 2.1 percent growth in sales to 5,812 units from 5,690 units a year ago, Malaysia with 2.3 percent uptick to 296,334 units from 289,599 units in the previous year, Thailand with 7.1 percent increase to 523,770 units from 489,118 units last year, Vietnam which rose 21.3 percent to 154,273 units from 127,200 units a year ago, and Myanmar which picked up 29.1 percent to 8,859 units from the previous year’s 6,860 units.

Motor vehicle sales in the ASEAN were flat at 1.69 million units in the first half.

In terms of production of motorcycles and scooters, the Philippines recorded the biggest drop of 7.6 percent to 583,484 units in the first semester from 631,647 units a year ago.

Also registering a decline in motorcycle and scooter output in the first half was Thailand which assembled 975,414 units, down 6.8 percent from the previous year’s 1.05 millions units.

Malaysia, on the other hand, saw its motorcycle and scooter output rise 18.6 percent to 258,784 units as of end-June from 218,184 units last year.

ASEAN produced a total of 1.82 million motorcycle and scooter units in the first semester, 4.2 percent lower than the 1.90 million units assembled a year ago.

As for motorcycle and scooter sales, the Philippines was in the middle of the pack as it registered an eight percent increase to 830,987 units in the January to June period from the previous year’s 768,609 units.

The Philippines was ahead of Thailand which saw sales dip 4.4 percent to 893,846 units from 934,698 units last year, and Indonesia with a 7.5 percent increase in sales to 3.23 million units from 3 million units a year ago.

It still, however, fell behind Singapore which had a 144 percent jump in sales to 9,778 units from 4,001 units in the previous year and Malaysia which sold 257,480 units, 20 percent higher than the 214,578 units last year.

ASEAN’s total motorcycle and scooter sales rose six percent to 5.22 million units as of the first semester from 4.92 million units a year ago.