Overview of Asia’s Automobile Sales, Production and Exports in H1 2023

Automobile sales in Asia increased 4.5% year-on-year to 5,378,704 units in the first half of 2023 (total of 12 countries in South Asia, ASEAN and East Asia, excluding China and Japan). Six out of the 12 countries showed an increase in sales compared to the same period last year. Economic recovery is the main factor behind the expansion, in addition to improved vehicle supply. On the other hand, rising interest rates, high prices, and stricter loan screening since the second half of 2022 are slowing down market expansion. In addition, compared to the first half of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, the increase was 7.9%. India surpassed the 2019 level by over 20%, but seven countries out of the 12 covered by this report fell below.

Automobile production increased by 13.3% from the same period last year to 7.48 million units in the 10 countries covered. Although Myanmar and Pakistan registered significant decline, all other countries raised production.

Looking at automobile exports in the five countries covered, India suffered a slight decrease, down 1.3% from the same period last year; however, the other four countries achieved double-digit growth.