MOTORIZATION IN ASIA: 14 Countries and Three Metropolitan Areas

Motorization in terms of passenger cars in 14 Asian countries and passenger cars and motorcycles in three metropolitan areas are analyzed in this study. Using country-based data which cover 20 years (1980–2000), a linear regression is conducted by panel estimation with random and fixed effects. As a result from the model, fixed income elasticity for the region was found to be 1.75. Fixed effect estimated separately for each country characterizes the motorization pace in the countries. Two groups of countries were detected with a significant difference in motorization paces—Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand have motorization paces higher than the rest of the countries. Additionally, using a cross-sectional data household car and motorcycle ownerships were analyzed for three metropolitan areas characterizing South-East Asia that are Jabotabek (Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Manila (Philippines) metropolitan areas. Results indicate that ownership of cars and motorcycles are independent of each other in Jabotabek and Manila, but negatively correlated in Kuala Lumpur; and generally, income is more influential on car ownership than motorcycle ownership.