PH leads Asean in vehicle production growth in September

The Philippines’ vehicle production grew by slightly less than a third in September, leading in growth rate compared with five others of its peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), half of which recorded varying degrees of decline.

Data released on Wednesday by the Asean Automotive Federation (AAF), an umbrella group of industry associations from member economies of the regional bloc, showed that 10,554 units of vehicles were produced locally during the month.

This is equivalent to a 27.1 percent growth compared to the 8,303 vehicle units manufactured during the same month in 2023.

READ: PH vehicle production posts highest monthly growth in August

This brought the Philippines’ vehicle output during the nine-month period to 97,139 units, indicating a growth rate of 18.3 percent from the 82,092 units tallied in the same time frame a year ago.

The Philippines had the highest growth rate but still was only fifth in terms of the volume of vehicle output among the Asean countries included in the report.

Thailand, the biggest producer with an output of 122,277 units in September, recorded a nine-month decline as output fell by 25.5 percent from 164,093 units.

The next biggest producer, Indonesia, also suffered the same multi-month trend as production declined 9.8 percent to 101,688 units from 112,783 units.

Similarly, Malaysia had its own output decrease by 19.9 percent to 55,383 units from 69,133 units.

In contrast, Vietnam’s production grew 11.2 percent to 16,251 units from 14,610 units, while Myanmar recorded a 6.3 percent growth as its vehicle output inched up to 219 units from 206 units.

In total, the six countries manufactured 306,372 units in September, resulting in a 17.0 percent decline compared with the output of 369,128 units in the same period in 2023.

These Asean economies produced a combined 2,817,782 units of vehicles from January to September, leading to a 12.6 contraction compared with the 3,222,237 units assembled a year ago.

The Philippines also lead in terms of growth rate when it comes to the production of motorcycles and scooters in September.

Local producers manufactured 119,107 units of these two-wheeled vehicle during the month, marking a 28.3 percent growth from the 92,861 units produced in September 2023.

From January to September, local assemblers produced a total of 1,012,400 units of motorcycles and scooters, representing a 7.4 percent growth from the 942,255 units manufactured a year ago.