New!
"The Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun"
|
Comments and
Suggestions: Contact
me! |
|
The automotive and transportation industry in the Philippines is vital to national development and a strategic component in economic pla-nning. The industry therefore has wide ramifications for the govern-ment, for business entrepreneurs, and for the motoring public. The per-capita ratio (no. of veh. per person) in the Philippines is 25:1 while that of the United States is almost 1:1 - thus the truism that the more-industrialized the country is, the higher its per capita vehicle ratio. Trend and Business Impact There are now over 4 million vehicles registered with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), per Autostop 2000, a trend-watcher of the Philippine motoring scene. This is a 25% gro-wth since 1997, whom many consider to be a banner year for the Philippines because it marked the first time vehicle registrations brea-ched the 3-million mark. Averaging about 10% for the period 1972-1997, the automotive industry has slowly edged its way up to a res-pectable growth rate of 16% per annum. With the country's comb-ined exports and imports of automotive parts projected to reach US$ 4.5 billion in the next four years, the business opportunities cre-ated by the trend is tremendous. The Philippine government envisions the automotive sector to be a world-class producer and exporter of automotive parts and components. Challenges and Opportunities Even before the 1997 economic meltdown in
Asia, automotive lea-ders already recognized the need to be more aggressive,
especially in after-sales service in order to survive. Other
than being customer-oriented, they correctly
anticipated what was then a rising market for the SUV and LCV - the
vans, the pickups, the utility trucks (AUVs). Not even the 9/11
attack seems to have fazed the practical-conscious Filipino buyer. Where
before passenger cars accounted for nearly 40% of the total
vehicle sales, now light commercial vehicles ac-count
for 70%. Honda is the biggest vehicle seller by industry in the passenger
car category, with Toyota next. Nevertheless, the car mar-ket has been
on a decline since 1999 (now only 30 percent of the en-tire industry
sales) while commercial vehicles shot up to 70%. 40%. |