Efforts to revive the automotive manufacturing industry and raise its competitiveness amid globalization will be futile unless smuggling and used car importation issues are not resolved swiftly, according to a study of the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS). The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) estimates that in four years, two years’ worth of their sales were eaten up by smugglers. The government and the private sector are crafting an auto industry roadmap to develop a globally competitive Philippine auto industry, but all these efforts will be put at risk if smuggling persists, the study said. While government has been trying to develop the automotive industry through various auto policies and programs, these had very limited success, according to the study, due to the difficulties faced by automotive assemblers in achieving the scale necessary to reduce their costs and improve their competitiveness. The study said global automakers therefore have been lukewarm in locating their regional assembly operations in the Philippines, not even in considering the country as a regional hub for any specific car model.
