MANILA, Philippines - Sales of vehicles as well as motorcycles and scooters in the Philippines grew fastest in the Southeast Asian region in the first half on the back of Filipinos’ rising purchasing power.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF) data showed the country’s vehicle sales rose by 25 percent to reach 108,957 units in the first half of the year, from 87,228 units in the comparable period last year.
The growth in Philippine vehicle sales in the first semester ahead of Vietnam’s 21.8 percent, Singapore’s 18.5 percent, Indonesia’s 6.7 percent and Malaysia’s 6.3 percent.
Sales of motor vehicles in Thailand and Brunei in the first-half meanwhile, posted year-on-year declines of 40.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
Total motor vehicle sales in the Asean region were also down by 11.3 percent to 1.609 million units as of end-June from 1.815 million units in the previous year.
The AAF data showed that the Philippine sales of motorcycles and scooters likewise expanded at the fastest rate in the first semester in the region.
Motorcycle and scooter sales in the Philippines went up by 10 percent to 390,017 units in the first-half from 354,393 units in the same period in 2013.
Aside from the Philippines, the only country in the region which saw an increase in motorcycle and scooter sales in the same period was Indonesia with its seven percent year-on-year increase.
Motorcycle and scooter sales slid in the January to June period from a year ago in the following countries: Malaysia (-18 percent), Thailand (-20 percent) and Singapore (-26.9 percent).
For the whole of Asean, the total number of motorcycle and scooters sold climbed by 0.7 percent to 5.717 million units as of end-June from the previous year’s 5.677 million units.
As for production of motor vehicles, the Philippines posted the second highest growth rate in output in the January to June period.
A total of 42,020 motor vehicles were assembled in the Philippines as of end-June, a 19.8 percent increase compared to the 35,082 units in the same period a year ago.
The rate of increase in the Philippines’ motor vehicle output follows Vietnam’s 32.8 percent, but is ahead of Indonesia’s 14.7 percent, Malaysia’s 8.3 percent and Thailand’s -29 percent.
ASEAN’s total motor vehicle output fell by 11.2 percent to 2.042 million units in the January to June period compared to 2.298 million units last year.
In terms of growth in motorcycle and scooter assembly, the Philippines was the leader in the region as it saw an 8.5 percent hike in output which reached 374,494 units for the January to June period compared to 345,231 units in the previous year.
For the same six month period, Indonesia’s motorcycle and scooter output posted a 6.8 percent year-on-year increase, while other countries in the region saw declines such as Thailand (-19.8 percent) and Malaysia (-19.5 percent).
The total number of motorcycles and scooters assembled in the ASEAN inched up by 0.1 percent to 5.771 million units as of end-June from 5.764 million units in the same period in 2013.