Southeast Asian auto sales up 62% in first eight months

Southeast Asian auto sales up 62% in first eight months

SINGAPORE (AFP): New vehicle sales in Southeast Asia's four largest markets climbed 62 percent in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period a year earlier, an industry survey released Tuesday showed.

The number of new vehicles sold in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand totaled 631,819 in the eight months to August, up from 389,797 units a year earlier, global auto component maker Visteon Automotive Systems said in a report.

Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand registered sales increases of 3.0, 12 and 1.0 percent respectively in August from July. Sales in Malaysia however dipped 2.2 percent from the previous month.

"Current economic indicators are not as strong as they were in the beginning of the year, and some experts believe that ASEAN is facing another crisis that could cause consumers to hesitate when spending," said Visteon marketing manager for Southeast Asia Tetsuya Kamogawa.

"But new models being launched by various auto makers should help stimulate new vehicle sales and help in achieving initial sales targets."

Malaysia was the biggest market with 225,293 vehicles sold from January to August, followed by Indonesia with 184,258, Thailand with 165,254 and the Philippines with 57,014.

Japan's Toyota Motors Corp. remained the leader with a 20- percent share of the market, followed by Proton of Malaysia and Mitsubishi.