Motor vehicle production up 7.3% in 5 months

Production of locally assembled Motor vehicles and motorcycles grew in the first five months of the year, but the country still had the lowest output in the Southeast Asian region.

According to the Asean Automotive Federation, locally assembled motor vehicles reached 37,079 units as of end-May, up 7.3 percent from 34,561 units in the same period last year.

The country’s motor vehicle output was the lowest among countries which had car assembly operations in the region as Thailand produced 783,553 units, Indonesia manufactured 486,172 units, Malaysia made 276,355 units, and Vietnam had 62,919 units for the January to May period.

Motor vehicles produced in the Asean region declined 2.8 percent to 1.65 million units in the five-month period this year compared to the previous year’s 1.70 million units.

In terms of motor vehicle sales, the Philippines placed fourth out of seven countries in the region, having sold 107,280 units in the January to May period this year, 20 percent higher than last year’s 89,335 units.

The motor vehicle sales performance as of end-May placed the country ahead of Vietnam (74,507 units), Singapore (25,791 units) and Brunei (6,550 units), but behind Indonesia (443,181 units), Thailand (308,787 units), and Malaysia (264,747 units).

Asean’s total motor vehicle sales slid by 7.4 percent to 1.23 million units in the January to May period from last year’s 1.33 million units.

As for motorcycle and scooter output, the Philippines ranked third out of four countries with assembly operations in the region, producing 329,113 units in the first five months of the year, a six percent increase from 310,596 units last year.

The Philippines’ motorcycle and scooter output beat Malaysia’s 172,656 units, but was still no match to Indonesia’s 2.72 million units and Thailand’s 820,078 units.

Motorcycles and scooters produced in the Asean fell by 15 percent to 4.04 million units in the January to May period this year from the 4.75 million units in the same period in 2014.

Out of five countries in the region, the Philippines got the third spot in terms of motorcycle and scooter sales as it sold 316,728 units in the January to May period this year, down by 1.4 percent from the previous year’s 321,388 units.

The Philippines performed better compared to Malaysia (170,796 units) and Singapore (2,992 units), but trailed behind Indonesia (2.67 million units) and Thailand (730,198 units).

Total motorcycle and scooter sales in the Asean slipped by 17.2 percent to 3.89 million units in the January to May period this year from the 4.70 million units in the same period a year ago.

The Philippine government is optimistic the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program which seeks to provide incentives to participating vehicle assemblers, will position the country as an automotive manufacturing hub in the region.

Under the program, the government is providing fiscal support in the form of tax payment certificates to firms which meet certain investment and production volume requirements.