Local car industry faces harder times

The local car industry is in for harder times.

Industry sources said the lack of consumer demand has resulted in excess inventory for most local car manufacturers.

As a result, the industry is now seriously studying scaling down its operation and workforce.

And even as local car manufacturers seriously assess their future, at least one car firm, Nissan Motor Philippines Inc. (NMPI) has temporarily ceased operation following a two-day labor strike.

According to NMPI spokesperson Tonette Lee, head of Nissan’s marketing division the work stoppage is an offshoot of the ongoing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations. Lee described the strike as "illegal."

The CBA negotiations, Lee said, had started way back in July but no agreement could be reached forcing the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to issue an assumption of jurisdiction order.

The DOLE, Lee said, ruled that neither party – labor or management –should engage in any operation to close down the plant or strike.

NMPI, Lee said, hopes that the CBA dispute will be resolved as son as possible.

Lee lamented the fact that while NMPI did abide with the DOLE directive that "no one can touch anybody," the Nissan employees chose to go on an illegal strike.

Nissan employs over 500 workers and about 280 reportedly joined the illegal strike.

Lee clarified though that only NMPI is affected by the strike and that Universal Motors Corp., which manufactures Nissan’s commercial vehicles, is not involved.

Lee admitted that global production has "topped up."

While Lee declined to comment on NMPI’s response to the excess production she admitted that the local car industry is "very competitive."

NMPI, based on the ranking of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI), is number six.

NMPI contends that if its sales is combined with that of UMC, it should rank number four.

NMPI is majority controlled by Yulon Motor Corp. of Taiwan.

The strike in NMPI is the second to hit the local car industry.

Earlier, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. had also been hit by a strike. TMPC had to seek government intervention and even threatened to leave the country and relocate its operations elsewhere.