DTI ends probe on Montero SUA issue next month

MANILA, Philippines - The final verdict on the alleged sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) incidents involving the Mitsubishi Montero is due to come out not later than next month, the Department of Trade and Industry said.

In a press briefing yesterday, Trade Undersecretary Victorio Dimagiba said they have come up with a timetable for the third-party experts and laboratory testing of Montero vehicles abroad that could determine whether there is a need for a product recall or not.

“We want to complete the process of testing by the end of February,” Dimagiba said.

He said, the DTI investigating panel would devote most of its time this month in the procurement process which would include the preparation of the terms of referrence, prequalification of the third-party laboratory and the actual award.

“Towards February, we are devoting at least a week for the actual testing of the vehicle and then another one or two weeks for the interpretation, evaluation, and the decision by the end of February. That’s the timetable we are looking at,” he added.

The DTI decided last month to resort to independent third-party experts and laboratory to aid in the investigation of the alleged defect in the Mitsubishi SUV model.

DTI is shouldering the expenses for the procurement of third-party experts and laboratory to make it completely independent while Mitsubishi will pay for the transport of the random vehicle samples abroad.

The random vehicle samples of the Montero model will include those that have allegedly experienced SUA.

Countries being considered for the automotive testing include Thailand, Singapore and Germany

Dimagiba earlier said automotive facilities needed for a complete vehicle testing are not available locally, which is why there is a need to tap foreign laboratories.

He said it is only after the independent third-party testing finds the SUA cases were due to technical and mechanical failure that the DTI could order a product recall.