Philippines vehicle output zooms in January-February

2nd fastest growth in Asean

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines posted the second highest growth in motor vehicle production in Southeast Asia in the first two months of the year, with its output rising by more than a fifth.

Data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF) showed that 22,379 motor vehicles were assembled in the Philippines in the January to February period, 20.9 percent higher than the 18,510 units manufactured in the same period in 2023.

The Philippines placed second to Myanmar where motor vehicle production jumped by 541 percent during the two-month period to 314 units from the previous year’s 49 units.

Malaysia also posted higher motor vehicle output in the January to February period as it produced 141,688 units, up by 15.8 percent from 122,325 units in the same period last year.

Countries that registered year-on-year declines in motor vehicle production were Indonesia (-20 percent), Thailand (-15.9 percent) and Vietnam (-15.7 percent).

ASEAN produced a total of 664,842 motor vehicles in the January to February period, down by 11.2 percent from the 748,402 units in the previous year.

In terms of motor vehicle sales, the Philippines also registered the second fastest growth rate at 19.4 percent, with 72,132 units sold as of end-February from the 60,404 units sold in the same period a year ago.

Myanmar again ranked first as its motor vehicle sales more than doubled to 564 units in the January to February period from 275 units in the same period last year.

Other ASEAN countries with higher motor vehicle sales are Malaysia with 12.8-percent growth and Singapore with a 4.2-percent increase.

Meanwhile, those with lower vehicle motor vehicle sales were Vietnam (-23.5 percent), Indonesia (-22.6 percent) and Thailand (-21.8 percent).

Motor vehicles sold in ASEAN slid by 9.9 percent to 485,260 units from 538,768 units.

In motorcycle and scooter production, however, the Philippines posted the second biggest drop in output in the first two months of the year as it assembled 208,666 units, 13 percent lower than the 240,197 units manufactured in the same period last year.

Malaysia also posted the biggest decline in motorcycle and scooter output with 87,040 units in the January to February period, down by 23.8 percent from 114,202 units a year ago.

All other ASEAN countries tracked by AAF had lower motorcycle and scooter output, with Thailand posting a 7.5-percent drop and Indonesia with a four-percent decline.

Motorcycles and scooters produced in ASEAN fell by 11.8 percent to 649,298 units as of end-February from 736,581 units in the same period last year.

The Philippines also had the second biggest decline in motorcycle and scooter sales as it sold 266,434 units, 10 percent lower than last year’s 296,433 units.

Malaysia had the largest drop in motorcycle and scooter sales as it sold 89,069 units, down by 18.4 percent from 109,111 units in the previous year.

Other ASEAN countries where motorcycle and scooter sales also dipped as of end-February are Thailand (-7.6 percent) and Indonesia (-3.3 percent).

Only Singapore registered growth in motorcycle and scooter sales at 13.5 percent during the period.

ASEAN’s motorcycle and scooter sales dipped by 10.2 percent to 655,140 units in the January to February period from 729,384 units in the same period last year.