Car makers in the Philippines are asking the government for a similar, if not the same set of incentives under the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy program.
Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp. is pushing for an extension of the CARS program.
“The CARS program should not be a one-time program. We hope to be able to continue and enhance this program. In fact, we are asking for a CARS 2,” said Mitsubishi first vice president of legal and government affairs Imelda Abadilla-Brown.
She said the company would be very grateful if the government would allow the extension of the CARS program for another five years to sustain jobs with the continued production of the Mirage, MMPC’s registered model in the program.
The car company, one of the two registered participants in the CARS program whose implementation was upended by the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, expressed optimism on hitting its 100,000th unit production within the year.
Under the program, fiscal incentives would be released upon the production of the 100,001th unit.
“The cars program is something that the industry needs. It’s a very good program. It’s very beneficial to the society and generates jobs. With the support, we’ll be able to sustain the case of the program. So it’s not just like about getting the volume, but continue supporting our local suppliers. The cars program should not be a one-time program,” she said.
MMPC invested almost P5 billion for car parts machineries crucial to support its participation in the CARS program.
MMPC said it was having a hard hitting the required volume of 200,000 units required by the incentives program, especially when the pandemic struck and industries, including car companies, temporarily halted operations.
Abadilla-Brown said MMPC was willing to locally produce another model in the Philippines but it would require support from the government, thus the clamor for CARS 2.
“We have aspirations. We want to add to the model lineup. We need support from government to make it happen. It all depends on the extent of support that government will be able to provide,” Abadilla-Brown said.
MMPC is producing about 20,000 unit of the Mirage in 2023. It continues to locally assemble the Mitsubishi L-300 and export a little volume to the ASEAN.