Philippine vehicle output, sales lag in ASEAN

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines ended 2020 with a double-digit decline in motor vehicle production and sales on subdued demand due to the health crisis.

Data released by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF) showed motor vehicles assembled in the Philippines fell 29 percent to 67,297 units last year from 95,094 units in 2019.

Other countries tracked by the AAF also felt the impact of the pandemic as motor vehicle assembly operations last year slowed in Indonesia (-46 percent), Myanmar (-31 percent), Thailand (-29 percent), Malaysia (-15 percent) and Vietnam (-6 percent).

As a result, total motor vehicles produced in ASEAN dropped 32 percent to 2.85 million units last year from 4.16 million units in 2019.

Motor vehicle sales in the Philippines slid 40 percent to 223,793 units in 2020 from the previous year’s 369,941 units.

Other ASEAN countries that registered lower motor vehicle sales in 2020 are Indonesia (-48 percent), Singapore (-38 percent), Thailand (-21 percent), Myanmar (-19 percent), Malaysia (-14 percent) and Vietnam (-8 percent).

Motor vehicles sold in ASEAN declined 29 percent to 2.45 million units in 2020 from 3.46 million units in the previous year.

Motorcycle assembly in the Philippines was also affected by the pandemic as those rolled out of production facilities decreased 46 percent to 631,370 units last year from 1.16 million units in 2019.

Lower motorcycle output was also seen in Thailand (-17 percent) and Malaysia (-11 percent) in 2020.

Motorcycles assembled in ASEAN reached 2.74 million units last year, a 25 percent reduction from the 3.66 million units produced in 2019.

In terms of sales, motorcycles sold in the Philippines dipped 29 percent to 1.21 million units last year from 1.70 million units in 2019.

Neighbors that also saw their motorcycle sales go down last year are Singapore (-46 percent), Thailand (-12 percent) and Malaysia (-9 percent).

Total motorcycle sales in ASEAN reached 3.23 million units in 2020, a 19 percent drop from 3.99 million units in 2019.