After PIMS, Campi sets sights on spurring industry growth

MANILA, Philippines–After the successful conclusion of the four-day 5th Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) last Sunday, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) is now setting its sights on working with the government—particularly the Department of Trade and Industry—for the completion of the Lemon Law’s implementing rules and regulation as well as the much-anticipated automotive industry roadmap.

 

Protection

 

The Philippine Lemon Law, or Republic Act No. 10642, protects buyers of brand-new cars from trade malpractices. Under the new law, which was only signed this July, consumers who purchased a brand-new car and experience defects in the course of one year may demand for either refund or replacement after four failed repair attempts by the concerned manufacturer, distributor or authorized dealer or retailer.

 

The Lemon Law is expected to raise customer satisfaction and encourage consumer confidence.

 

The automotive roadmap on the other hand, which has been in the works since 2011, will contain strategies, support as well as fiscal incentives that would strengthen the local industry so it could effectively compete against regional peers.

 

“I am very pleased with the result of the 5th PIMS. The massive flooding on the second day of the four-day event hardly made a dent on the overall success of the event. Even the turnout of visitors more than met our expectations. However, I am more excited about what we will embark on in the coming weeks as these two matters (Lemon Law’s implementing rules and regulations, and roadmap) are set to stimulate further economic and job growth,” said Campi president Rommel Gutierrez.

 

Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, who led the 5th PIMS opening ceremony last week at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, said that the roadmap should also be compatible with the capacity of available infrastructure.

 

Integrated

 

“When it comes to the automotive industry, if you want to set an industry that will create more jobs, we need to make sure it is integrated with the other plans,” he said.

 

Aquino, who chairs the Senate committee on trade, industry and entrepreneurship, also added that framework for the upcoming automotive roadmap should include strategic planning from the assembly of parts, manufacturing into cars, distribution and sales in the country in preparation for the Asean market integration in 2015.

 

Transformation

 

The Asean Economic Community (AEC) will transform the Asean into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor as well as flow of capital.

 

The Philippines should intensify its preparation considering that based on the recent (end-July) Asean Automotive Federation data, the country still lags behind regional peers in terms of vehicle production. Assembling a total of 43,233 units as of end-July, this figure is still behind Vietnam’s that already delivered 48,092 units. Regional giant Thailand has already produced 1.542 million units while Indonesia delivered 692,666 units. Malaysia already came out with 348,303 units.

 

Intensify success

 

Gutierrez said the Lemon Law’s IRR and roadmap should intensify the successes that the Philippine motoring industry has been achieving over the years.

 

He reported that the country’s auto industry has generated more than P120 billion in investments, which translated to almost 500,000 jobs for Filipino workers.

 

The industry also contributed to the national budget through payment of duties and taxes amounting to over P30 billion as well as recorded total exports of about $3.4 billion in 2013.

 

“We enjoyed double-digit growth since 2011. In 2013, the industry achieved a new record of 212,414 units in total sales, its first time to surpass the 200,000 mark. This year, the Philippine automotive industry continues to be strong as it achieved a combined sales record of 19,116 units for the month of August alone (a 29.6-percent growth from August 2013),” he said.

 

“Furthermore, year-to-date sales already reached 148,803 units or a growth of 28 percent. We plan to maintain this glorious momentum by providing the market with only the best automotive products and services that suit their needs and lifestyles,” he added.

 

A few weeks ago, Campi even adjusted its forecast of its original target of achieving annual total sale of 230,000 units announced in January.

 

Campi now expects to hit annual sales of 250,000 units or a 20-percent growth forecast.