Imported used cars killing auto industry — dealers

Imported secondhand vehicles bought through the Subic Freeport are being sold under questionable circumstances to the detriment of the local automotive industry.

Industry players including manufacturers, car dealers, parts makers and workers in the automotive industry made this claim yesterday as they criticized Malacañang over its flip-flopping statements concerning the lifting of the ban on imported secondhand vehicles.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and four other groups claimed they had proof that imported vehicles being sold at the Subic Freeport are allegedly underpriced to reduce the declaration of tax payments after the units are acquired.

Campi presented a list before a news conference purporting to show how imported secondhand vehicles at Subic Freeport were being sold below their actual appraised value.

The list showed the selling prices of a number of vehicles from Mitsubishi Pajeros all the way to BMWs and Mercedez-Benzes.

Used Pajeros are allegedly sold within the range of P230,000 to P450,000 per unit with acquisition costs ending up at $200 to $400. Tax payments therefore amount only to between P53,104 and P55,492, Campi said.

According to George Baylock of the Philippine Automotive Association (PPA), the figures indicate erroneous selling methods.

Even if the importation of the vehicles was done legally, Baylock pointed out the price and tax declarations of each vehicle are questionable.

"I’m outraged. Here we are trying to make a decent living. Are we just going to allow this to happen? People in government have not even looked at what’s going on," Baylock said.

Campi president Elizabeth Dee said the local car industry is worried over the claims by Sen. Richard Gordon that the ban was lifted as some kind of political favor.

Dee claimed Gordon provided them with a copy of a memorandum reportedly signed by Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Merceditas Gutierrez and based on a supposed directive by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita to all concerned government agencies regarding the lifting of the ban. — Michael Punongbayan