Southeast Asia logged a 14 percent rise in new car sales for 2021, compared to the previous year. The uptick has been due to increased car sales in Indonesia, coupled with relaxed COVID-19 restrictions during the latter half of 2021.
Models such as the 11th-generation Honda Civic made their ASEAN debut in 2021
Nikkei Asia reports that Indonesia led the rally with a 67 percent jump in demand, becoming the biggest market for new cars among ASEAN’s six major economies with 887,202 new cars sold. Overall, the country joined Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines in rolling off 2.79 million vehicles from showrooms.
The figure still falls 20 percent short of sales records for 2019, just before the pandemic began. More stringent COVID-19 restrictions in the region, which also caused production delays due to semiconductor supply disruptions, caused the momentum to lose steam.
There has been a rise in spending on new cars in both Vietnam and the Philippines for the first time in two years, with gains of 3 percent and 16 percent respectively, translating to 300,000 and 280,000 vehicles. In 2020 and 2021, Vietnam unseated the Philippines as ASEAN’s fourth-largest new car market.
Sales of the next-generation Avanza in Malaysia buoyed Toyota's leadership in that market
Meanwhile, new car sales in Indonesia were boosted in part by tax breaks, some of which have been extended until the end of March 2022. Toyota cemented its more than 30 percent market share in the country with the introduction of the new Avanza model in November 2021.
Daihatsu and Mitsubishi further expanded their shares as the second and third place automakers in that market, respectively.
Thailand recorded a four percent drop in new car sales amounting to 759,119 units, representing the third consecutive year it has been in decline. This was still a long way from the 860,000 units forecast by Toyota for the industry in general. Lockdowns imposed in July interrupted the market’s strong start during the first half of 2021.
Honda suspended operations in two of its Malaysian facilities in June over rising COVID-19 cases
Malaysia’s car market also contracted by four percent to 508,911 new vehicles sold, with a nationwide lockdown in June 2021 accounting for the loss. The country’s biggest automaker, Perodua, sustained a 14 percent drop in unit sales, blamed on semiconductor shortages. The Malaysian Automotive Association expects 600,000 units to be sold for 2022, almost unchanged from last year’s projections.
While the numbers point to the auto market’s recovery in the region, the general consensus is that car sales are not likely to return to 2019 levels until after the year 2023.
Get the latest auto industry figures at Philkotse.com.