The Philippines slipped to fifth place in January as the fastest growing automotive market in Southeast Asia from second last year.
Data from the ASEAN Automotive Federation showed vehicle sales in the Philippines fell 10.7 percent in January to 20,879 units from 23,380 units a year ago, while production declined 8.7 percent to 5,543 from 6,704 units.
Indonesia maintained its top position in sales with 84,098 units sold in January 2022, up by 58.9 percent from 52,909 units, followed Thailand with 25.8 percent growth to 69,455 from 55,208 units.
Malaysia sold 40,581 units, higher by 21.5 percent than 33,972 a year ago, while Vietnam also fared well with 16.3-percent sales increase to 30,742 from 26,432 units.
Similar to the Philippines, Singapore and Myanmar suffered declines in sales by 45.7 percent to 3,747 units and 56 percent to 1,125 units, respectively.
Thailand led production with 151,747 units in January, or 2.5 percent higher than 148,118 units produced a year ago.
Indonesia placed second with 113,004 units manufactured in January, up 40.1 percent from 76,319 units a year earlier, followed by Malaysia with 42,961 units produced, up 8.3 percent from 39,666 units in the same month last year.
Vietnam and Myanmar recorded production declines. Vietnam‘s production went down by 4.6 percent to 18,405 from 19,284 units, while Myanmar’s output went down by 25.2 percent to 603 from 806 units.
Total sales in the region increased by 24.8 percent 250,627 units from 200,776 units while production remained healthy at 14.5 percent growth.
Scooter and motorcycle sales and production registered decline in January. Sales were down by 3.6 percent to 303,511 from 314,947 units.
The Philippines posted slower output both in sales and in production. Sales declined by 8 percent to 115,698 from 125,033 units, while production dropped 8.8 percent to 79,651 units.
Thailand led the region with 7-percent increase in sales to 145,095 units from 135,041, while production was also up by 3.6 percent to 169,171 from 165,874 units.
Sales by Malaysia dropped 20.4 percent to 41,868 from 52,609 units while production decreased 13.3 percent to 42,800 from 50,451 units.
Singapore, which does not have scooter production, registered 2.4 percent decline in sales to 950 from 973 units.
Total two-wheel vehicle sales in the region declined by 3.6 percent to 303,611 from 314,947 units. Production was down by 3.6 percent to 292,622 from 303,704 units.