PH bucks regional trend of declining car sales

The Philippines remained one of the fastest growing countries in Southeast Asia in terms of motor vehicle sales, bucking the overall 10.8-percent decline seen in the region in the first eight months of the year.

Data from the Asean Automotive Federation (AAF) showed that sales of motor vehicles in the Philippines rose by 27.6 percent to 148,803 units from January to August this year. It was the second fastest growth next to Singapore, which booked a 29.3-percent rise in sales to 22,178 units.

In terms of volume however, the Philippines ranked fourth among seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), while Singapore came in sixth, according to the AAF.

Indonesia continued to chalk up the most sales in terms of volume with 830,398 units in the first eight months—up 4.8 percent from the same period last year. Thailand came in second with sales reaching 579,273 units, down a hefty 38.3 percent from a year ago. Malaysia followed 444,534 units sold—up by 2.7 percent.

Vietnam (which ranked fifth) and Brunei (seventh) sold 77,103 units and 12,082 units, respectively.

In terms of production, the Philippines continued to lag behind its neighbors, having produced only 60,685 units in the first eight months of the year—up 20.8 percent from the 50,223 units recorded a year ago.

Thailand remained the frontrunner in the region in terms of production, having manufactured 1.244 million motor vehicles from January to August—down 28.3 percent from a year ago, according to the AAF.

Indonesia produced 878,546 units during the same period, followed by Malaysia, with 402,688 units, and Vietnam, with 74,681 units.

For this year, the Philippine automotive sector expects total vehicle sales to reach more than 260,000 units—much higher than the forecasts made by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi).

The industry association had previously raised its sales forecast for 2014 to 250,000 units from the 230,000-unit target announced earlier this year.

Last year, total vehicle sales in the country reached over 210,000 units.