Auto council to forge closer ties between assemblers, parts makers

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Automotive Competitiveness Council Inc. (PACCI) said they are looking at expanding the domestic capacity of local auto manufacturers by forging closer ties between assemblers and parts makers.

PACCI chairman Feliciano Torres noted that the combined activities of PACCI members represent 90 percent of domestic vehicle production in the country, 85 percent of all domestically-supplied automotive parts equivalent to P20 billion and 90 percent of all automotive parts exports valued at $2.7 billion.

“For this year, PACCI decided to focus on the parts manufacturing sector to emphasize the importance of the collaborative partnership between the parts manufacturers and vehicle manufacturers. We aim to grow domestic capacity for both the parts and vehicle manufacturing industries. This is essential for the Philippine automotive manufacturing industry to reach the next crucial stage of its development,” Torres said.

PACCI was established in 2009 to provide a unified voice to advocate for the strengthening of the Philippines automotive manufacturing industry. Its primary objective is to support the country’s auto and auto parts manufacturing industries and increase their overall future competiveness.

PACCI is composed of six of the most prominent participants in the automotive manufacturing industry, namely: the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP), the premier parts makers association in the Philippines and five of the Philippine’s largest vehicle manufacturers: Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi and Toyota.              

For his part, MVPMAP president Raffy Villarreal says that MVPMAP fully supports this summit since parts manufacturing will be the focus in the conference.

“We are glad that finally, we see a ray of hope for our distressed sector. We urgently need help as our organization supplies 90 percent of all the requirements for local components of what is left of the local vehicle manufacturing sector. We have a workforce of more than 45,000 people among the Tier 1 and 2 suppliers. Our upstream suppliers employ another 30,000 people,” he said.

Last year, MVPMAP member companies exported more than $2.1 billion in auto parts and components and they expect to export more than $2.5 billion in 2010.

 “Combined, they paid over P 7.5 billion in salaries and wages in 2010. MVPMAP members are even at the forefront in the local manufacturing, assembly, sales and servicing of the electric jeepneys or eJeepneys, considered the vehicle of the future,” he added.