Auto, motorcycle sales plunge in 10 months

MANILA, Philippines — Motor vehicle production and sales continued on a slow pace, posting a double-digit contraction in 10 months as the pandemic weakened consumer appetite for cars.

Data from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF) showed the Philippines assembled 54,894 vehicles in the January to October period, 29.8 percent lower than the 78,211 vehicles produced in the same period last year.

All other ASEAN countries tracked by the AAF also registered a decline in vehicle production in the 10-month period such as Indonesia (-48.9 percent), Thailand (-35.5 percent), Malaysia (-22.2 percent), Vietnam (-16.4 percent) and Myanmar (-7.3 percent).

As a result, total ASEAN motor vehicle output fell 36.8 percent to 2.22 million units as of end-October from 3.52 million units in the same period a year ago.

In terms of sales, the Philippines sold 173,035 units in the 10-month period, a 42.7 percent reduction from 301,761 units in the same period a year ago.

All ASEAN countries covered by the AAF report also saw their vehicle sales fall in 10 months except for Brunei, which posted a 13.6 percent growth in sales to 11,220 units from 9,879 units the previous year.

Countries which sold fewer vehicles as of end-October are Indonesia (-50.5 percent), Singapore (-41.4 percent), Thailand (-27.4 percent), Malaysia (-19.9 percent), Vietnam (-18 percent) and Myanmar (-10.4 percent).

Total motor vehicle sales in ASEAN dipped 33.9 percent to 1.89 million units in the January to October period from 2.85 million units last year.

The same AAF data showed the total number of motorcycles made in the Philippines were cut by 51.8 percent to 479,496 units during the same period from the previous year’s 995,108 units.

Neighbors with motorcycle assembly operations such as Thailand and Malaysia also registered lower sales.

As of end-October, total motorcycle output in ASEAN was down 30 percent to 2.14 million units from 3.07 million units in the same period last year.

For motorcycle sales, the Philippines sold 941,260 units during the period, a 33.3 percent drop from 1.41 million units a year earlier.

Motorcycle sales were also down in Malaysia (-13.3 percent), Thailand (-13.4 percent) and Singapore (-47.2 percent).

Total motorcycle sales in ASEAN decelerated by 21.9 percent to 2.61 million units as of end-October from the previous year’s 3.35 million units.

As the pandemic remains a threat, Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. president Rommel Gutierrez said imposing a safeguard measure on vehicle imports would limit the industry’s ability to address challenges posed by the crisis.

The DTI is conducting a preliminary investigation to determine if a safeguard measure should be imposed on vehicle imports following a petition filed by the Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance, which claimed the volume of automobiles coming from overseas have increased and reduced opportunities to locally manufactured cars.

Republic Act 8800 allows the government to impose safeguard measures which can come in the form of higher duties on imported products to provide relief for domestic players hurt by a surge in imports.