Mitsubishi, Honda to refund safeguard deposits

MANILA, Philippines — Automotive companies Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) and Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) are returning deposits collected from customers for safeguard duties earlier ordered by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

“Safeguard duty deposits previously collected by our dealerships will be returned to the affected customers,” MMPC said in an advisory.

MMPC said the selling dealer would be reaching out to customers for the processing of refunds.

It also said it would no longer require safeguard duty deposits for its sales.

MMPC made the announcement after the DTI dismissed the petition filed by the Philippine Metalworkers Alliance for the imposition of safeguard measures on passenger car (PC) and light commercial vehicle (LCV) imports.

Prior to the dismissal of the petition, the DTI imposed provisional safeguard measures in the form of cash bond amounting to P70,000 for PC imports and P110,000 for LCVs brought in from other countries.

To comply with the provisional safeguard measures, MMPC collected deposits amounting to P78,400 inclusive of value-added tax from customers purchasing the Xpander (GLX MT, GLS AT, and Cross AT variants), and Montero Sport (GLX 2WD MT, GLS 2WD AT, and GT 2WD AT variants), and P123,200 from those opting for the Strada.

In a separate advisory, HCPI said it is also returning the collected safeguard deposits to affected customers.

In particular, P40,000 would be returned to those who purchased the Brio (S/V); P60,000 for the Brio (RS/RS BT); P7,000 for the City Sedan; P13,000 for the City Hatchback (RS); P10,000 for the Civic (E/RS); P30,000 for the BR-V (S/V); and P30,000 for the HR-V (RS).

To claim the refund, HCPI said customers may download the safeguard refund form online through https://bit.ly/3m4dwEr and submit the accomplished form with required attachments to the dealership.

HCPI’s dealership will contact the customer once the safeguard refund is ready for release either through bank deposit or actual cheque, depending on the customer’s preference.

Other automotive firms that have announced they would be returning deposits for the safeguard duties are Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., Isuzu Philippines Corp. and Suzuki Philippines Inc.

Earlier, Nissan Philippines Inc. said customers who purchased the Navara from April 8 to Aug.11 would also be getting a rebate of the safeguard duties included in the original price of the pickup.