BOI to promote AUVs for export

The Board of Investments (BOI) will focus on the promotion of Asian utility vehicles (AUVs) lines as the country’s identified export niche in the world market.

According to Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II, the production of AUVs is characterized by a high local content rate and supports the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the parts manufacturing industry.

Since AUVs have a higher local content, Roxas said, its production would create more employment and in turn result in more buying power for Filipinos.

"There are 198 parts manufacturers in the country, employing around 40,000 people," Roxas said.

The BOI chairman said that total export of the Philippine parts manufacturers last year amounted to $.1.15 billion.

These exported parts, Roxas said, include wiring harness, gear boxes, road wheels and tires.

AUVs such as Toyota Motors Philippines’ Tamaraw FX Revo, Mitsubishi’s Adventure and Isuzu’s Highlander have become very popular locally and in fact have been the bestsellers of the three car firms.

Based on industry figures, the Toyota Tamaraw FX Revo has been a consistent bestseller with actual sales of 12,932 units in 1997, dipping to 6,354 units in 1998 before picking up again to 12,355 units in 1999 and increasing to 12,771 units in 2000.

For the first four months of this year, actual sales of the Revo have reached 3,316 units.

The Mitsubishi Adventure sold 6,319 units in 1998 but went down to 4,709 units in 1999 before picking up to 8,470 units in 2000.

From January to April this year, Mitsubishi sold 2,666 units of the Adventure.

The Isuzu Hi-lander was able to sell 5,526 units in 1997, going down to 3,617 units in 1998 and sliding further to 2,521 units in 1999 before picking up to 4,303 units in 2000.

For the first four months of this year, 1,248 units of Hi-Lander were sold.

However, total AUV sales of the industry reached 19,783 units in 1997, dropping to 16,714 units in 1998 before bouncing back to 21,505 units in 1999 and climbing up to 25,796 units in 2000.

For the first four months of the year, a total of 7,268 units have been sold.