Mitsubishi calls on PH gov’t to focus on long-term vision for local auto industry

President Aquino tours the newly inaugurated factory of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. File photo

The government needs to focus on a long term vision for the Philippine automotive industry if it wants this sector to contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth. 

This was the message of Mitsubishi Motor Corporation president and chief executive Osamu Masuko even as the global company renewed its support to the Philippine government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program recently. 

During President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Japan last month, MMC signed a letter of intent during a meeting in Tokyo reaffirming its interest in expanding its car production capability in the Philippines.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Inc. (MMPI) president Yoshiaki Kato said that the first Philippine-made Mirage GT under the CARS program will start rolling out from its Sta. Rosa plant in Laguna In January next year. 

MMPC is the local unit of MMC, and which to date is the second largest supplier of vehicles in the Philippines next to Toyota. 

By April, the Sta. Rosa plant will be ready to distribute to local dealers the mass market-priced Mirage, adds Kato. 

While most of the parts will still come from Thailand for the two Mirage models, investment plans are already being firmed up to bring local content to over 50 percent, a move seen to reinvigorate further the local parts supply industry and pave the way to further strengthen the Philippines’ dream of becoming a competitive regional automotive manufacturing hub. 

MMPC will also be completing construction of its stamping plant in Sta. Rosa, an investment move that deepens its stakes in the Philippines. 

The stamping plant, which will be able to roll out body parts of vehicles, is a first in the country. 

MMC has expressed optimism about the future of CARS and the Philippine automotive industry even as the Department of Finance continued to push for higher excise taxes on locally produced and imported vehicles. 

The planned 5 percent hike in excise taxes for vehicles with a tag price of below P600,000 is expected to affect Mirage sales projections under CARS, more so the proposed 20 percent tax increase for vehicles within the price range of P600,000 to P1.2 million, of which the Mirage GT falls under. 

It is also expected to dampen local auto sales, particularly those of multi-purpose and sports utility vehicles that have been the preferred segments of Filipino car buyers in recent years. 

Improved automotive sales have always been considered as an indicator of economic strength. It is not only a measure of affluence of people in a country, but also a gauge of their productivity.