MANILA, Philippines—Citing the positive economic prospects of the country, brought on by the economy’s more than 6 percent expansion every quarter, and the soon-to-be finalized Philippine Auto Policy of the Department of Trade and Industry, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) announced the acquisition of the 21.4-hectare manufacturing plant formerly owned by Ford Philippines.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
Ford Philippines shut down the assembly plant, located at the Greenfield Automotive Park in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, in December 2012 due to the restructuring of its regional manufacturing operations. During its 13-year operations, Ford’s $270-million factory could assemble 36,000 vehicles a year, across four different vehicle platforms.
“The acquisition of the Sta. Rosa factory will further strengthen our assembly operations, utilizing heavy stamping machines, advanced equipment and facilities engineering that will support the new midterm business plan of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (Japan),” said Hikosaburo Shibata, MMPC president and CEO.
Strategy
The transfer to the Laguna plant is part of MMC’s “New Stage 2016” (commencing in April 2014), which aims to reinforce its production bases in the Asean region.
“MMC has recognized the fact that in spite of the increasing market competition, MMPC has remained strong in the Philippines. In fact, the company last year recorded its seventh consecutive sales growth—23.7 percent—which is higher than that of the total industry’s growth improvement,” said Froy Dytianquin, VP for marketing services.
This year, MMPC aims to sell 50,000 units or around 16 percent higher than what it sold last year. In 2013, MMPC was able to sell 43,176 units, breaking the old sales record of 36,533 units the company set in 1996.
Based on a recent Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. data, several of MMPC’s models made it to the Top 10 list of the country’s best-selling vehicles: Montero Sport SUV, which sold 14,683 units (best-selling LCV in the country); the L300 FB Chassis Cab and Adventure, which sold 6,810 and 6,580 units, respectively; and the Mirage hatchback, which sold a total of 6,191 units and managed to be on the Top 3 of the country’s best-selling passenger cars.
These sales performance figures enabled MMPC to capture nearly one-fourth (23.8 percent) of the market, where Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. has top market share (41 percent).
January 2015
Vehicle production in the new plant is set to begin in January 2015 following the relocation from MMPC’s current headquarters/factory in Cainta, Rizal.
“As we move out of our current 18-hectare manufacturing base in Cainta, Rizal, we look forward to ramping up our production capacity. The current plant, which has an annual production capacity of 15,000 units on one shift, assembles the L300 van, Adventure Asian utility vehicle and Lancer EX sedan,” said Arlan Reyes, MMPC advertising and promotions manager.
He also said that the Laguna plant will be strategically located nearer to MMPC’s other property: the stockyard in Tanauan City, Batangas, which is near the Port of Batangas where models from Thailand and Japan are shipped to.
It is also interesting to note that one MMPC affiliate, the Asian Transmission Corp. (ATC), is located in Laguna. ATC, located at Carmelray Industrial Park 1, Canlubang, Calamba, produces transmission and engine parts for vehicles being assembled by MMPC as well as manufactures component parts and transmission assembly for Mitsubishi plants in other countries like Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Competitive
MMPC, which celebrated its 50th anniversary of operation in the Philippines, has grown continuously along with the automobile market development of the country, becoming the first car manufacturer in the country to achieve a cumulative production volume of 500,000 units.
The move to relocate its headquarters/assembly plant and reform its production capability reflects MMC’s will to prepare for its further growth in the promising Philippine market.
“We also look forward to the government’s auto policy which is aimed at strengthening the local auto manufacturing operations to make it competitive against other Asian and Asean countries. Strengthening the auto manufacturing operations through this new auto policy will eventually provide huge employment opportunities not only to car assemblers like MMPC, but also to the industry-related companies and businesses such as first-, second- and third-tier suppliers,” said Reyes.
Be at the forefront
Reyes said MMPC would like to be at the forefront when the country finally achieves growth in motorization, which refers to increased demand for mobility that is expected to pave the way for the rise in motor vehicle ownership.
The first and second waves of motorization were captured by Thailand and Indonesia in the previous years, following the recovery from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
The Philippines, in spite of its new record sales of around 212,000 units achieved last year, still pales by comparison with regional rivals Thailand (1.33 million units) and Indonesia (1.23 million) in terms of auto market sales. However, the Philippines’ sales performance is projected to rapidly grow in the coming years given its close to 100 million population and improving economy.
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