PIMS 2016 allows consumers to explore more options for their automotive requirements

Starting today until Sunday, Sept. 18, car lovers will get an opportunity to experience, appreciate and compare car brands and models at the 6th Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) in the World Trade Center, Pasay City.

In an online interview, lawyer Rommel Gutierrez, president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi), the organizer of PIMS, said that the motor show allows the consumer the convenience of exploring options for all their automotive requirements in one location.

“The 6th PIMS is undertaken to improve brand exposure for Campi members’ automotive and corporate brands by allowing all exhibitors to have a more interactive engagement with cars lovers,” Gutierrez added.  “It will also provide a unique opportunity for exhibitors to get first hand feedback on their products and services from the local market.”

With the theme “Steer the Future” the 6th PIMS projects Campi’s vision, which is to bring new car models into the market and lead the way for better mobility and transportation for Filipinos.

One week ago, at the PIMS pre-event press conference, Gutierrez in his keynote address pointed out that the automobile industry contributes a lot to the country’s economic growth as it accounts for 12 percent of the industrial sector output and 4 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP) during the previous administration.

A trillion pesos

In the last three years, the CAMPI head said the industry generated about a quarter of a trillion pesos in sales, proving that it is one of the major drivers of the country’s industrial sector.

“With the government, we will increase the manufacturing sector share to total GDP from 23 percent to 30 percent and employment from 9 percent to 15 percent,” Gutierrez predicted.

By “we” he meant not only the members of Campi, but also the Truck Manufacturers Association, local parts makers and forward and backward linkages.

All 17 members of Campi will participate in the 6th PIMS with the exception of Ssang-Yong, the newest associate member that opened for business in Manila only this year.

Campi has eight regular members: BMW, Daewoo Bus, Kia, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan and Toyota. The nine associate members are Peugeot, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki, Volkswagen, BAIC, Foton, Lexus and SsangYong.

Significant players

Gutierrez asserted that all Campi members are significant players on both the

global and local scale. While two best-selling brands, Ford and Hyundai, belong to the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (Avid), he claimed, in answering a question at the open forum of the press conference, that Avid chalks up only 10 percent of the country’s total annual sales and that Campi has greater influence on the industrial sector and the government.

Campi members surpassed last year’s target of 300,000 unit sales, and as of June this year, 167,481 units had been sold, which is more than half of sales in 2015, it was revealed at the 6th PIMS press con.

The bi-annual motor show opens a month after car and truck sales in August surged to 32,472 units, up 40 percent from 23,181 units sold in the year-ago period, and bringing total vehicle sales to 229,919 units in the first eight months of the year.

At the pre-event PIMS press con, CAMPI announced its revised sales target for 2016 of 370,000 unit sales, up from 350,000.

The record-setting performance in August prompted Gutierrez to issue a press statement last week that “with the consistent increase in monthly sales, we believe that we can reach 370,000 unit sales by the end of 2016.”

He contended that the impressive August sales and the much-anticipated PIMS augur well for reaching the revised sales target.

Vision 2020

In fact, Campi is so bullish that it is widely proclaiming “Vision 2020” its goal to sell 500,000 units in the next four years.

Campi’s Vision 2020 is obviously inspired by the fact that 47 percent of Filipino households are carless, a ratio higher than those in other Asean countries.

Campi is working towards Vision 2020 mainly through the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) of the government, which, Gutierrez says, aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the local production of motor vehicles.

“By rationalizing cost of production, vehicles produced locally could be made more affordable,” he averred. “Filipino consumers will benefit in terms of supply availability, quality and more competitive pricing. CARS will grow the parts-making sector of the local automotive industry, and make car ownership easier and cost-friendly.”

At present, the leading brands with local manufacturing/assembly plants and substantial scale of production are Toyota, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Honda and Nissan. China’s Foton, the newest Campi member, inaugurated a P1.2-billion assembly plant at the Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga earlier this year.

But so far, only two Campi members—Toyota and Mitsubishi—are participating in CARS because they are the only ones capable of meeting the requirements of the government program.

Growth target

So the question naturally arises: Is the participation of only two manufacturers enough to grow the Philippine auto industry to the level targeted by CARS?

“The participation of the two major industry players will, to my mind, substantially contribute to the growth of the automotive industry,” replied Gutierrez, who is a vice president of Toyota Motor Philippines. “The target set by CARS is based on each participating company.”

Meanwhile, most of the vehicles seen on Philippine roads are completely built units (CBUs) imported from other countries.

While admitting that only 30 percent of the vehicles on display at the 6th PIMS are locally assembled/manufactured CKD (completely knocked down units), and that of the 300,000-plus units sold in 2015, only 30 percent were locally assembled/manufactured CKDs, the Campi chief executive posited that the CARS program is intended to improve the current ratio to favor CKD.

“We may not be able to reverse the ratio but efforts are being made to avoid the further decline of CKD in favor of CBU,” Gutierrez said.

So, bottom line, “Driving progress and empowering society” is the bullish mantra of the 6th PIMS in this age of rapid motorization, and it refers to all cars and trucks, whether CKD or CBU.