Car, motorcycle production down from January to November 2020

MANILA, Philippines — Motor vehicle and motorcycle production, as well as  sales  in the Philippines, recorded a double-digit drop from January to November last year compared to a year ago on continued weak market demand due to the   pandemic.

Data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)  Automotive Federation (AAF)  showed  motor vehicles assembled in the Philippines reached 61,257 units in the 11-month period, down 30 percent from the 87,864 units in the same period in 2019.

All other ASEAN countries covered by the AAF report also reported a decline in vehicle production from January to November last year.

Posting the biggest reduction in motor vehicle assembly was Indonesia (-47.7 percent), followed by Thailand (-31.7 percent), Malaysia (-18.7 percent), Myanmar (-15.4 percent), and Vietnam (-13 percent).

As of end-November, ASEAN’s total motor vehicle output fell by 34 percent to 2.55 million units from 3.86 million units in the previous year.

AAF data showed the Philippines’ motor vehicle sales were also down  by 42 percent to 196,197 units from January to November 2020 compared to 336,226 units  in the same period in 2019.

Most of the Philippines’ neighbors in ASEAN also registered lower motor vehicle sales such as Indonesia (-49.6 percent), Singapore (-39 percent), Thailand (-25 percent), Myanmar (-21.6 percent), Malaysia (-17.2 percent), and Vietnam (-14 percent).

Only Brunei saw its motor vehicle sales increase by 14 percent to 12,505 units in the 11-month period in 2020 from 10,949 units in 2019.

Motor vehicle sales in ASEAN decreased by 32 percent to 2.14 million units from January to November 2020 compared to the previous year’s 3.15 million units.   .

As for motorcycle production, the AAF data showed the Philippines’ output was cut by close to half to 565,407 units as of end-November last year compared to the 1.09 million units a year ago.

The country’s neighbors with motorcycle assembly operations also had lower output such as Thailand (-18.6 percent) and Malaysia (-13.6 percent).

A total of 2.46 million motorcycles were produced in the ASEAN as of end-November last year, down 27.5 percent from 3.39 million units in the previous year.

Motorcycle sales in the Philippines slid by 32 percent to 1.07 million units from January to November   from 1.57 million units in the same period in 2019.

Dips were also seen in motorcycle sales of Singapore (-46 percent), Thailand (-13.3 percent), and Malaysia (-11.6 percent) in the 11-month period.

As of end-November, total motorcycle sales in the region  declined  by 21 percent to  2.92 million units  from the previous year’s 3.69 million units.