Growth in PH vehicle output accelerated to 6.5% in Nov

MANILA  —The Philippines’ vehicle output increased by 6.5 percent last November, accelerating from the preceding month’s 0.9 percent growth and maintaining its 11-month growth streak in 2023 as half of its peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) with production hubs suffered varying declines.

Data released on Tuesday by the Asean Automotive Federation, an umbrella group of industry associations from member economies of the regional bloc, showed that 10,983 new automotive vehicles were produced in November 2023, up from the 10,315 units recorded in the same month a year ago.

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Thailand, the biggest producer among the six countries in the regional bloc with vehicle assembly hubs, saw a 14.1-percent drop in production, marking its fourth consecutive month of decline as output fell to 163,337 units.

Asean peers

Indonesia suffered an even steeper decline of 15.7 percent with its production of 113,858 units, while Vietnam saw a 9.6- percent reduction with its output of 18,581 units.

The Philippines’ November performance indicated a 25.8-percent growth over the 11-month period, with local assemblers manufacturing a total of 105,821 new vehicles.

In total, the six countries produced 374,684 in November, bringing their combined year-to-date production to 3,977,672 units.

This marks a 0.5 percent decline compared to the 3,998,430 units assembled during the same eleven-month period in 2022. INQ