Philippines to up car making
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The Philippines is set to boost local vehicle manufacturing and build a supply chain as the country undergoes rapid motorisation fuelled by a growing economy.
The executive director of Philippine Automotive Competitiveness Council (Pacci), Ramon Vicente Kabigting, said vehicle sales could reach 500,000 units by 2022, from 180,000 units in 2012.
To make this possible, the Board of Investments, an agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry, is crafting the National Automotive Manufacturing Industry Strategy (Namis) to be launched “in the next three months”, according to Kabigting.
The non-fiscal support policy will allow local car manufacturers to take their idle plant lines to full capacity, assembling 200,000 units in the next two years. The current utilisation rate is 36 per cent of full capacity.
Michinobu Sugata, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp president and CEO and president of the Pacci board of trustees, said that with a vehicle density of only 33 units per 1,000 persons, the Philippines has a far more exciting growth potential than the more mature markets of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. He recounted Toyota’s success in the Philippines and announced that the automaker would boost production to 50,000 units a year from the current 30,000.
Also, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp earlier reported plans of hiking production to 50,000 units in the next two years, and on to 100,000 by 2017, given government support.
