Automotive

The Philippine auto industry is on the threshold of major changes and reforms that could lead to the full development of what remains one of the country’s few major industries.

FOCUS Ventures, Inc., the local distributor of Chinese automotive brand Chana, may invest $8 million on a Philippine assembly plant if domestic sales go up significantly, an executive told reporters yesterday.

Yesterday, I attended the press conference of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers Inc. (Campi) on the August 19 to 22 CAMPI International Motor Show (PIMS) in Manila.

MANILA, Philippines – The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) has revised upward its year-end sales growth target to 11 percent from 4 percent.

DOMESTIC auto parts makers want the government to grant perks to assemblers that would source their components from the Philippines. In a position paper submitted to the Board of Investments, Antonio Gimenez, Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP) executive director, said both the government and the local automotive industry should aim for…

THE Arroyo administration has revised the new Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP). Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Elmer Hernandez told reporters last week that the President signed Executive Order 877-A on June 3.

The local auto industry has jacked up its growth target following robust sales during the first five months of the year.

PARIS — Electric cars offer a chance to develop lucrative new technologies, and suppliers would benefit from grabbing more of this work — but they will have to fight car makers keen to hold on to control of future profits.

CAR SALES this year are now projected to top 2009 levels by 11%, better than the 4% growth forecast made earlier, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) said in a statement yesterday.

LOCAL manufacturers of small-automobile spare parts may grab the lion’s share of the business to be generated under the Asean-Australia-New Zealand Free-Trade Area (AANZFTA).

MANILA, Philippines – Local parts makers yesterday expressed support for the newly signed Comprehensive Motor Vehicle Development Plan (MVDP) or Executive Order 877 saying the new law will be a big help in ensuring that the industry remains competitive.

The multisectoral Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade) asked President Gloria Arroyo to revoke the recently signed order that paved the way for the new auto industry development program.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) said the government must patch the loopholes in the new motor vehicle program to attract more investments in the industry. “Our country going through its first taste of automated elections reflects democracy in action. This augurs well for the Philippines and for Filipinos, as foreign…

THE PHILIPPINES could become Southeast Asia’s hub for automotive part manufacturing under the new Motor Vehicle Development Program recently laid down by Executive Order 877, a group of car and parts manufacturers yesterday said.

The government will roll out the new Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP) by mid-June, Trade Secretary Jesli Lapus said.

Domestic car manufacturers are raising their sales targets. Originally, the industry projected sales of just 137,000 units, an increase of a sluggish 3.4 percent over the 132,444 units sold in 2009. They see a boom coming.

MANILA, Philippines – Locally made vehicles continued to lose market share in the first quarter as tariffs on competing Southeast Asian imports were dropped and work on an incentive program for car assemblers stalled.

MANILA, Philippines – Auto sales went up by a strong 35.5 percent to 38,709 units during the first three months of this year from a year ago level, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) reported yesterday.

The embattled head of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) scored the chiefs of four Japanese member-companies for misreading the group’s position on the government’s new program for the industry.

TRUCK assemblers and auto parts makers said they are supporting the government’s New Motor Vehicle Development Program (NMVDP) despite a provision in the draft plant that reclassified imported used engines and other components from “prohibited” to “regulated” items.

A CRACK has emerged in the Philippine auto sector after four top assemblers questioned the leadership of the industry group over its position vis-a-vis a government bid to revise its Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP). In a letter dated March 15, Honda Cars Philippines Inc., Isuzu Philippines Corp., Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. and Toyota Motor…

MANILA, Philippines – The local eJeepney has received rave reviews from a sustainable mobility and energy consultancy group Eonlux because the makers have decided to use it first as a public transport in order to help people experience the electric vehicle without buying it first.

I had mixed feelings as I followed the international coverage of Toyota’s massive recall of several of its models, mostly those sold in the North American market.

MANILA, Philippines – The local auto industry is complaining that the government has not given them a copy of the proposed revised Motor Vehicle Development Plan (MVDP) because the MVDP presented during the public hearing lacked specific action plans.

MANILA, Philippines – Perhaps the end of 2009 couldn’t have come sooner as it did – putting behind a year of reeling from Ondoy and the lingering effects of the nefarious sub-prime bubble burst of 2007 – the latter truly a shot heard around the world.

MANILA, Philippines – The auto industry is asking the government to provide incentive packages to promote exports of vehicles, a move expected to boost local manufacturing and encourage more investments, the Chamber of Automobile Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said.

AS the United States government pressed Toyota for accountability over malfunctioning vehicles, the Philippines has taken the less contentious stance, with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) leaving it to the Japanese company to address possible consumer complaints.

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) announced that TMP and Lexus Manila Inc. (LMI) models sold in the Philippines are not affected by the US accelerator-pedal recall.

MANILA, Philippines – The local automotive industry slammed the government for not laying down concrete measures as to how the government will encourage car makers to continue to manufacture in the country.

News dispatches concerning runaway Toyota cars with unintended acceleration problems are getting to be pretty scary for a Toyota car owner like myself. Sudden unexplained acceleration of Toyota cars have been linked to 19 deaths in the last decade, according to Henry Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US House of…