BIZ BUZZ: Good news for ICE makers
While much of the attention last week went to the government’s P60-billion incentive package for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, there may soon be good news for their counterparts in the internal combustion engine (ICE) business.
That is, if you’re Toyota or Mitsubishi—the two companies that participated in the government’s first automotive manufacturing incentives scheme, the P27-billion Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (Cars) program.
From what we’re told, the government appears determined to finally settle the nearly P4 billion in remaining incentives owed to the two carmakers before the end of the year, although no specific timetable has been set.
“Can’t say which month but the government is really working on it and hopes to resolve it before the year ends,” said Ma. Corazon Dichosa, executive director of the Board of Investments (BOI), in a message to Biz Buzz.
According to Dichosa, Toyota accounts for the bigger share of the unpaid incentives after enrolling its best-selling Vios sedan under the Cars Program. Mitsubishi, meanwhile, registered its Mirage.
If that yearend timeline is met, the long-awaited payout would finally close the chapter on the Cars Program and allow both companies to pursue new government-backed incentive schemes without having to carry the baggage that is unpaid incentives.
Mitsubishi has already committed to the recently approved Electric Vehicle Incentives Strategy (EVIS), pledging P7 billion to produce what is expected to become the country’s first locally manufactured hybrid EV at its Santa Rosa, Laguna plant.
Toyota, for its part, had lobbied for the revival of the Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (Race) Program, the intended successor to Cars that was eventually set aside as the government shifted its focus to Evis.
It eventually got its wish, and the BOI is now crafting the revamped Race Program, which carries a proposed P9-billion budget, or P3 billion each for three ICE manufacturers over three years.
Will the country’s two dominant car brands once again lead the race for government incentives? Abangan!
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