Phl 2nd fastest growing car market in SE Asia

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines was the second fastest growing market in terms of motor vehicle sales in Southeast Asia in the January to August period, according to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF).

Data from the AAF showed that during the eight-month period the country’s vehicle sales grew by 27.6 percent to 148,803 units from 116,617 units in the same period in 2013.

This puts the country behind Singapore which saw vehicle sales pick up by 29.3 percent during the period, but ahead of Vietnam’s 27.4 percent, Indonesia’s 4.8 percent, Malaysia’s 2.7 percent, Brunei’s –4.5 percent and Thailand’s -38.3 percent.

ASEAN’s total motor vehicle sales declined by 10.8 percent to 2.121 million units as of end-August this year from 2.377 million units a year ago.

The Philippines also placed second in terms of growth in motor vehicle assembly in the region in the January to August period as it manufactured 60,685 units this year, up by 20.8 percent from the 50,223 units in the previous year.

The growth rate seen in motor vehicle assembly in the Philippines for the eight-month period is lower than Vietnam’s 33.6 percent, but higher than Indonesia’s 13.8 percent, Malaysia’s 4.4 percent, and Thailand’s -28.3 percent.

Motor vehicle assembly in ASEAN fell by 11.3 percent to 2.661 million units in the eight-month period from 2.999 million units last year.

Meanwhile, Philippine motorcycle and scooter sales expanded at the fastest rate in the region during the January to August period.

As of end-August, Philippine motorcycle and scooter sales climbed by six percent to 507,594 units this year from 478,858 units a year ago.

The rate of increase in Philippine motorcycle and scooter sales is better than Indonesia’s 4.6 percent, Thailand’s -17.8 percent, Malaysia’s -19.1 percent and Singapore’s -28.3 percent.

The number of motorcycles and scooters sold in the ASEAN dipped by 0.9 percent to 7.365 million units in the January to August period from 7.432 million units sold a year ago.

As for motorcycle and scooter assembly, the Philippines posted the second fastest growth rate in the region for the January to August period, producing 484,049 units of motorcycles and scooters this year, a 2.3 percent uptick from the previous year’s 473,186 units.

The country’s growth in motorcycle and scooter output is lower than Indonesia’s 4.6 percent but higher than Malaysia’s -19.7 percent and Thailand’s -21.2 percent in the same eight-month period.