Isuzu Philippines Inc. plans to enroll its truck line into the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Program or Executive Order No. 182, which provides incentives for vehicle manufacturers.
Isuzu Philippines senior vice president Arthur Balmadrid said the company would wait for the Cars implementing group to review the measure.
“There is a provision in the EO that states it will subject the measure to a review six months after its implementation. This is to allow others a chance to also join Cars. We are hoping that the review period will be the cue for us to submit our proposal,” he said.
Balmadrid said the proposal on trucks was one of the several options the company was looking at to join the program.
He said as the third slot under the program was still open, Isuzu might persuade the government to create a different set of criteria for trucks to qualify for the program.
“Since there are only two participants eligible for the program, the government may allocate the third slot for medium players like us. That’s how eager we are to join Cars,” said Balmadrid.
Among Isuzu’s truck line, the four-ton N series is the most salable.
Balmadrid said the company was interested in the incentives program, as the incentives would go a long way to improving company sales and advance corporate research and development.
Under the program, qualified companies should produce at least 600,000 units in six years, with each of the three companies churning out 200,000 units during the life of the program.
Cars program offers P27 billion worth of time-bound and performance-based fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to support new investments in fixed capital expenditures in new parts making capability and to encourage large-scale production in vehicle assembly.
Assistance of $1,000 per unit will kick in as soon as the manufacturers produced the 100,000th unit.
Isuzu recently announced another milestone for the company for reaching the 200,000 sales mark in October 2015.