Government Prods Automakers to Bring in Hybrids
August 22, 2008 by jedi
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday ushered in a new era in Philippine transportation by calling on local car manufacturers to begin introducing vehicles that run on alternative fuels, a move that will reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
Speaking to members of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) during the opening of the 2nd Philippine International Motor Show at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Mrs. Arroyo told the chief executives of the 15 participating auto brands to hasten the introduction of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles that run partly on battery power.
“We await the arrival of hybrid vehicles,” she said. “This is part of our Green Philippines Program and having vehicles that run on renewal energy is a big help.”
CAMPI president and Universal Motors Corp. executive vice president Elizabeth H. Lee said the auto industry will be bringing in hybrid vehicles in the near future as soon as sales and production of these types of vehicles hit a critical mass in the Asian region. Cars and trucks that run on hybrid technology use a combination of battery power and fuel-fed engine to run. They consume roughly half the fuel of regular vehicles and produce less emission. Hybrid vehicles are sold in developed countries like the US and Japan.
In her opening ceremony speech, Mrs. Arroyo also paid tribute to the immense contribution of the auto industry to the economy’s growth, as well as the significance of putting up a world-class motor show in the country. “This motor show tells the world we are ready to compete,” the President said.
She also pledged to run after car smugglers who burden the industry with unfair competition. “Government sells smuggled sports cars it has confiscated at public auctions run by non-government organizations. Proceeds of the sale go to social welfare programs. We’d rather do away with the small taxes we collect to save the auto industry,” she said.
Mrs. Arroyo has also ordered the funding of a program to provide financing for the conversion of public utility vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
“We call on the auto industry to respond by providing more vehicles that run on hybrid technology, LPG and biodiesel,” she told CAMPI member companies. “You can also provide buses to transport employees and reduce your use of energy.”
CAMPI is holding the country’s only motor show of international calibre to highlight the strength of the auto industry. Despite a slump in car sales in the US market, sales of cars in the Philippines showed double digit growth and an 11-year high, said CAMPI president and Universal Motors Corp. executive vice president Elizabeth H. Lee. Total vehicle sales rose 14.2% for the first seven months of the year from 2006 levels on the back of strong dollar remittance from overseas Filipino workers and rising entrepreneurship.
Aside from providing jobs to more than 74,000 Filipinos who directly depend on it for their living, the local auto industry also contributes in the form of government revenues from taxes. In 2007 alone, the industry contributed a total of P18.92 billion in taxes, up from P14.94 billion in 2006.
“It is critical to understand the importance of an auto industry as a key driver to an economy, especially to one like ours. The automotive industry is perhaps one of only two remaining significant manufacturing efforts in the Philippines,” said Ms. Lee. “No successful, developed country is without an auto industry that contributes significantly to its gross domestic product,” she added.
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I wish that Hybrid vehicles can be brought to the Philippines. As a filipino Civic Hybrid Owner here in the states, I was too hesitant to buy a Hybrid before. Distances here in the states is far more longer than there in the Philippines. In a full tank, It gets me 600 miles. Mga 1000+ kms in one full tank there in the Philippines. Malaking ginhawa yan sa Pilipino. Wag po kayong mababahala sa Hybrid Battery na hindi daw tumatagal. Ako po mismo ang nagsasabi sa inyo, AKO PO AY 2003 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID with 100,000 NA ANG MILAGE NG KOTSE KO, WALA AKONG NAKIKITANG DIPERENSIYA SA HYBRID BATTERY< IT CAN STILL MANAGE TO HAVE 45 MPG