MANILA —The Philippines’ vehicle production rose by nearly a fifth last year, producing a total of 110,350 new units and becoming one of only two countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that posted an increase in annual output during the period.
Data released on Thursday by the Asean Automotive Federation, an umbrella group of industry associations from member economies of the regional bloc, showed that Philippine vehicle output grew to 110,350 new units from 92,223 units a year ago.
Only the Philippines, the fifth in terms of production volume, and Malaysia, were able to expand their annual production numbers.
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Thailand, the biggest producer among six Asean countries with assembly operations, saw its production dip by 2.2 percent to 1,841,663 units.
Indonesia, at second, saw a deeper production cut of 5.1 percent to 1,395,717 units.
Malaysia saw a 10.3-percent growth with its output of 774,600 units, while Vietnam’s fell by 23.7 percent to 177,435 units.
Lastly, Myanmar suffered the steepest decline as output plunged by 53.5 percent to 1,475 units.
In total, the six countries produced 4,301,240 new vehicle units in 2023, marking a decline of 1.9 percent from 4,383,744 units in 2022.
Despite being a laggard in terms of production volume, the Philippines posted the highest growth particularly in motorcycle and scooter production.
The Philippine motorcycle and scooter production rose 23.1 percent to 1,235,418 units from 1,003,510 units in 2022.
Indonesia followed with a growth rate of 14.1 percent and Thailand with 5.2 percent.
In contrast, Malaysia’s fell by 19.9 percent and Vietnam by 19.2 percent in this segment.