An automotive company will start producing vehicles locally in 2017 to kick start the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy scheme, or Cars, and take advantage of Filipinos’ rising purchasing power.
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. said sales were expected to increase dramatically once Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. began producing 37,000 units of Mirage in 2017.
MMPC would ramp up production to 50,000 units annually by 2018, the same year Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. would start Vios production under the Cars incentive scheme.
“More or less, next year we will be able assess if there is a need to change the 500,000 units [2020 target sales]. The demand is high because we now have improved purchasing power,” Campi president Romel Gutierrez told reporters during the opening of the 6th Philippine International Motor Show at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
The ratio of imported cars against locally-manufactured cars is currently at 70:30, in favor of imported vehicles.
“The chance of reversing this trend is near impossible. But the local industry can always strive to achieve 50:50 ratio,” said Gutierrez.
Campi said the industry could achieve the annual sales target of 500,000 units as early as 2020, given the record sales this year and growing demand for automobiles. The industry cited the strong domestic market potential as nearly half of the Filipino households or 47 percent remained carless.
Industry data showed that automobile sales grew 40.1 percent in August to 32,472 units from 23,181 units in the same month in 2015.
Industry sales in the first eight months hit 229,919 units, or 28.3 percent higher than 179,215 units sold in the same period last year.
Campi revised industry sales forecast for the year to 370,000 units from 360,000 units, after first semester sales accounted for more than half of the target volume. In 2015, actual sales went beyond the forecast of 272,000 units.
The automotive sector accounts for 12 percent of the industrial output and 4 percent of the gross domestic product.