Motor vehicle output up 37 percent in 7 months

Fastest growth in Asean

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines continued to register the fastest growth rate in motor vehicle production in the ASEAN region as it posted a 36.9 percent jump in the first seven months of the year.

Based on data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF), 65,934 motor vehicles were sold in the Philippines from January to July,
significantly higher than the 48,166 units recorded in the same period last year.

In July alone, the country posted a 14.4 percent increase in motor vehicle production, rising to 8,961 units from 7,832 in July last year.

Following the Philippines, Malaysia posted the second highest growth rate in the seven months of the year at 16.1 percent.

This was followed by Thailand and Indonesia with 5.7 percent and 5.5 percent growth rate, respectively.

On the other hand, Myanmar posted the largest decline at 87.3 percent. Similarly, Vietnam posted a 31.2 percent contraction during the period.

A total of 2.485 million motor vehicles were assembled in the region from January to July, up 5.7 percent from 2.351 million units in the same period the previous year.

The Philippines also posted the highest growth rate in motor vehicle sales at 31.1 percent, selling a total of 239,501 units, higher than the 182,687 units sold in the same period a year ago.

This was followed by Malaysia and Indonesia with 12.6 percent and 4.5 percent growth, respectively.

In contrast, Myanmar posted the largest decline in motor vehicle sales at 73.9 percent.

Three other ASEAN countries also posted declines in motor vehicle sales during the period: Vietnam (30.2 percent), Singapore (18 percent) and Thailand (5.5 percent).

Motor vehicle sales in ASEAN increased by 1.3 percent to 1.9 million units in the first seven months.

Data from the AAF also showed that the Philippines’ motorcycle and scooter production jumped by 50.5 percent to 791,784 units, the highest growth among ASEAN countries tracked by AAF.

This was followed by Indonesia and Thailand with a 22.9 percent and 19.3 percent growth, respectively.

On the other hand, Malaysia posted a 5.1 percent decline in motorcycles and scooters production as well as Vietnam with a 19.2 percent decline.

Motorcycles and scooters assembled within the ASEAN jumped by 12.4 percent to 7.461 million units.

The Philippines also registered a 4.6 percent increase in motorcycle and scooter sales in the seven months of the year to 932,220 units from 800,990 units.

This was despite a 7.5 percent decline in motorcycle and scooter sales in July at 118,256 units from 127,873 units in the same period last year.

Indonesia posted the highest increase in motorcycle and scooter sales at 55.4 percent to four million units. This was followed by Thailand with a 10 percent increase in motorcycle and scooter sales.

In contrast, Vietnam posted a 24.4 percent decline in motorcycle and scooter sales. It was followed by Malaysia and Singapore with a six percent and 2.4 percent decline, respectively.

Motorcycle and scooter sales in ASEAN in the first seven months of the year increased by 17.7 percent to 7.66 million units.