Philippine motor vehicle production drops 7% in November

Motor vehicle production in the Philippines declined in November, reflecting the wider downtrend in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, according to the ASEAN Automotive Federation (AAF) report.

Data from the AAF showed Philippine motor vehicle output fell by 7.2% in November to 8,772 units from 9,455 units in the same month in 2023. This was the biggest decline since the 12.9% contraction in March.

The ASEAN region saw motor vehicle production drop by 15.2% to 318,575 cars in November.

Thailand had the biggest output in the region at 117,251, falling 28.2% year on year. This was followed by Indonesia, whose output slipped by 5% to 110,398 units and Malaysia with a 10.1% drop to 60,927.

Vietnam had the fourth-biggest production in November at 20,901 units, up 12.5% year on year, followed by the Philippines.

Myanmar manufactured 326 units in November, jumping 79.1% year on year.

For the January-to-November period, the Philippines saw motor vehicle production grow by 14.7% to 116,650 units from 101,707 in the same period in 2023.

In ASEAN, production declined by 12.7% to 3.47 million as of end-November from 3.98 million a year prior, as only the Philippines, Myanmar and Malaysia posted annual growth.

Vehicle production in Myanmar surged by 83.8% year on year to 2,515 units, while Malaysia’s output inched up by 2.4% to 725,173 units.

Despite a 20.2% contraction, Thailand remained the biggest manufacturer in the region at 1.36 million. Indonesia saw output plunge by 31.8% to 885,516, while Vietnam’s output shrank by 1% to 157,115.

Meanwhile, motorcycle and scooter production in the Philippines grew 4.3% in November to 112,216, from 107,564 units in the same month in 2023.

The Philippines was the third-biggest producer of motorcycles and scooters in the region, after Indonesia where production declined by 7.5% to 571,810 and Thailand where output fell by 16.8% to 148,142 units.

In the first 11 months, the growth in motorcycle and scooter production was the fastest in the Philippines at 8.6% to 1.25 million units from 1.15 million in the same period in 2023.

Indonesia remained the leader in the region with 6.45 million units, up by 1.7% year on year. This was followed by Thailand with 1.73 million units, down by 11.4%.

The region’s total motorcycle and scooter production slipped by 0.2% to 9.95 million in the January-to-November period.

Growing sales

In the first 11 months, motor vehicle sales in the Philippines grew 8.8% to 425,209 from 390,654 units a year prior.

This was the fourth fastest growth in the region, after Singapore (up 40.2% to 46,491), Myanmar (up 31.3% to 3,982) and Vietnam (17.2% to 308,544).

Sales in Malaysia inched up by 1.4% to 731,476 units.

Sales in Thailand plunged by 26.7% to 518,303, while sales in Indonesia fell by 14.7% to 784,791.

This brought the total region’s sales to 2.82 million in the January-to-November period, down 7.3% from 3.04 million in 2023.

Meanwhile, motorcycle sales in the Philippines grew 7.6% to 1.55 million in the 11-month period, the fastest growth in the region.

Following the Philippines was Malaysia, which saw a 2.2% increase in motorcycle sales to 517,461 from 506,083 a year prior.

Next are Indonesia and Singapore, which had a 2.1% and 2% increase in motorcycle sales in the first eleven months to 5.93 million and 11,176 units.

Thailand posted a 9.6% decline in motorcycle sales to 1.56 million in the January-November period.

ASEAN’s total motorcycle sales inched up by 0.8% to 9.57 million as of end-November. — J.I.D. Tabile