Philippines revs up motor vehicle production from January to August

MANILA, Philippines — Motor vehicles produced in the Philippines climbed by 17 percent year-on-year in the January to August period, the second highest growth in Southeast Asia.

Data released by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Automotive Federation (AAF) yesterday showed that Philippine motor vehicle production as of end-August rose to 86,585 units from 73,789 units in the same period last year.

Myanmar had the highest growth in motor vehicle production in the region, jumping by 180 percent to reach 1,697 units during the eight-month period.

Malaysia posted a 7.8-percent growth in motor vehicle output to reach 536,313 units while the rest registered declines such as Indonesia (18 percent), Thailand (17.7 percent) and Vietnam (8.5 percent).

In all, motor vehicles produced in ASEAN went down by 12 percent to 2.51 million units in the January to August period from 2.85 million units in the same period in 2023.

AAF data also showed motor vehicle sales in the Philippines in the January to August period grew by 10.3 percent to 304,765 units from 276,215 units in the previous year.

The Philippines posted the third highest growth in motor vehicle sales in ASEAN in the eight-month period next to Myanmar’s 39.3 percent and Singapore’s 36.6 percent.

It was also ahead of Malaysia’s 5.9 percent, Vietnam’s 2.4 percent, as well as Indonesia and Thailand where sales fell by 17 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively.

In ASEAN, motor vehicle sales dipped by 7.7 percent to 2.02 million units in the January to August period from 2.19 million units in the same period in 2023.

When it comes to motorcycle and scooter production, the Philippines saw the fastest growth in ASEAN in the eight month period as output rose by 5.2 percent to 893,293 units from 849,394 units in the same period last year.

Indonesia placed second as its manufactured motorcycles and scooters went up by 2.2 percent year-on-year to 4.69 million units in the January to August period.

On the other hand, motorcycle and scooter output in the eight-month period decreased in Malaysia by 9.6 percent and in Thailand by 12.2 percent.

The number of motorcycles and scooters manufactured in ASEAN went down one percent to 7.24 million units in the January to August period from 7.31 million units in the same period a year ago.

The Philippines also had the highest growth in motorcycle and scooter sales in ASEAN as of end-August as it sold 1.09 million units, 4.9 percent higher than the 1.04 million units in the same period last year.

This was followed by Indonesia with a 3.1 percent growth and Singapore with a 2.1 percent increase in motorcycle and scooter sales.

Meanwhile, motorcycle and scooter sales slid by 6.3 percent in Malaysia and by 10.8 percent in Thailand.

Motorcycle and scooter sales in ASEAN in the January to August period went up slightly to 6.98 million units this year from 6.96 million units in the same period in 2023.