Philippine Vehicle Production Experiences Slowdown in October 2023 Amidst ASEAN Trend

In October 2023, the Philippines saw a slowdown in its vehicle production growth, recording an increase of only 0.9 percent, amounting to 10,200 units of vehicles assembled. This represented the weakest monthly growth for the year. This trend of reduced vehicle output growth was not unique to the Philippines but was also observed among several other ASEAN countries, each experiencing varying degrees of slowdowns. For instance, Indonesia and Vietnam witnessed significant declines in their vehicle production, with Indonesia’s output decreasing by 23.8 percent and Vietnam’s by 28.3 percent. In contrast, Malaysia and Myanmar experienced growth in vehicle production, with Malaysia’s output growing by 25.8 percent and Myanmar’s soaring by an astounding 633.3 percent​​​​.

Despite the reduced growth in October, the Philippines’ vehicle production growth over a 10-month period still registered a notable increase of 28.5 percent, with a total of 994,838 new vehicles manufactured within the year. Across six ASEan countries, a total of 378,244 vehicle units were produced in October, cumulatively amounting to 3,602,988 units for the year to date. This figure represents a slight 0.7 percent increase compared to the 3,576,657 units assembled during the same ten-month period in 2022​​​​.

Interestingly, the production of motorcycles and scooters in four ASEAN countries that have assembly hubs for these vehicles saw a significant overall decline of more than a third in October. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand collectively produced 851,330 units of motorcycles and scooters, which was a 34.5 percent decrease from their combined production in the same month in 2022. However, the Philippines was the only country among these to see a slight increase in motorcycle and scooter production, growing by 0.2 percent to 104,445 units from 104,196 units a year ago​​​​. Data on Vietnam’s production for October was not available at the time of the report​​.