Philippines remains one of Asean’s fastest-growing auto markets at end-Sept

MANILA – The Philippine market for motor vehicles and motorcycles remain one of Asean’s fastest growing in the first nine months of the year.

Data from the Asean Automotive Federation (AAF) show that the Philippines sold 169,727 motor vehicle units at end-September, or 29.2 percent more than last year’s 131,381 units.

The Philippine market’s growth bucked the 10.8 percent decline in Asean sales and trailed Singapore and Vietnam. The Asean average was weighed down by the 37.3 percent contraction in Thailand, which was the region’s second biggest market for motor vehicles at 648 million (see chart below).

Auto companies in the Philippines have been registering record sales so far this year, leading an industry group to revise upwards its growth target.

For motorcycles, Philippine sales of 569,036 units were 4.3 percent more than the 545,544 units in the same nine months of last year, outpacing nearly everyone except Indonesia, which registered a 4.6 percent year-on-year increase to 6.079 million. Both countries bucked the 0.6 percent drop in sales for Asean.

Philippine assembly of both motor vehicles and motorcycles is still lagging behind domestic sales, even as production is higher than in most neighboring countries.

AAF data show the Philippines produced 67,610 motor vehicles at end-September, or 16 percent more than the 58,326 units in the same period last year and bucked the 11 percent contraction in Asean. The Asean average was weighed down by the 27 percent contraction in Thailand, which at 1.408 million remains the region’s biggest assembler of motor vehicles (see chart below).

For motorcycles, the Philippines’ 1.5 percent growth in production was the region’s second-fastest, but the country’s overall output of 548 million was only a sixth of regional leader Indonesia’s 6.065 million.

Vehicle assemblers have been pressing the Philippine government to put in place more incentives to encourage higher production. Already more than a year in the making, an industry road map has yet to be issued. –Chelsea Cruz, InterAksyon.com