PH vehicle production revved up by 22.8% in May

Philippine vehicle production increased by more than a fifth in May, continuing the local sector’s recovery from the decline it recorded earlier in March as it logged the second-fastest growth among six economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Data released on Thursday by the Asean Automotive Federation(AAF), an umbrella group of industry associations from member-economies of the regional bloc, showed that the Philippines’ vehicle output went up by 22.8 percent from a year ago.

READ: First time this year: PH vehicle production down in March

This meant a production volume of 11,650 new vehicle units, which is more than the 9,487 units that were manufactured in the same month in 2023.The May posting brought the country’s year-to-date output to 54,045 units, marking a 13.2-percent growth compared to the 47,761 units produced in the same five-month period last year.

Second in growth, 5th in production volume

Despite having the second-fastest growth in the latest AAF report, the Philippines still ranked fifth out of the six in terms of production volume.

Thailand remained the biggest producer among the six, even as its production shrank by 16.2 percent during the month to 126,161 units.

READ: Growth in Philippine vehicle output, sales accelerated in April

Indonesia was in second place, producing 98,100 units even as it also suffered a deeper 18.1- percent decline.

Malaysia took third place with 74,174 units followed by Vietnam with 13,377 units, with both countries enjoying an expansion in production of 14.2 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.

Myanmar had the highest growth rate, at 2,266.7 percent, but output remained measly at 213 units during the month from just nine units in May 2023.

The six countries produced a total 323,675 units in May, a decline of 9.3 percent from a year ago, bringing their cumulative year-to-date output to 1.57 million, equivalent to an annual downturn of 12 percent.

Motorcycle, scooter output

The Philippines’ monthly production of motorcycles and scooters also continued to recover in May from the 17.2- percent decline it suffered in March.

Local makers made 118,082 new units of these two-wheeled vehicles, up by 3.9 percent compared to the 118,082 produced in the same month in 2023.

This brought the country’s five-month production to 544,028 units, which was not enough to pull it out from a 4.2-percent decline during the period.