Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. is investing another P3.5 billion to P5 billion to upgrade its production capacity and create a new vehicle platform in the Philippines.
“This [plan] will be triggered once the EO [executive order] on cars industry manufacturing is finally approved and release. For now, we’re still playing by the ear. We follow what our Japanese investors say,” MMPC executive vice president for overall operations Orlando Alvarez said over the weekend.
The investment will also include the establishment of a P2-billion stamping facility, which the company disclosed earlier.
Production of door panels and car hood will soon be localized as soon as intended investments for the specific process are released.
Proceeds from the sale of its manufacturing facility in Cainta, Rizal will be used to partly fund the proposed new investment.
Alvarez said the P5 billion new investment would complete the company’s P10-billion investment program. The company earlier spent P5 billion for the acquisition of the Ford plant in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna.
The company said it was looking at manufacturing either an Asian utility vehicle or a small car in the country if the government would provide the needed assistance to the automotive industry.
“We have all the necessary preparations taken care of. It’s just a matter of the category, although we are seriously considering small car. The market for small cars is growing,” said Alvarez.
Mitsubishi also plans to upgrade equipment to further improve assembly process and quality and make it at par with other Mitsubishi Motor assembly plants.
It installed at the new plant in Laguna an advanced automated plastic parts paint robot capable of multi-color painting, the first-of-its-kind in the Philippines.
The company will also set up a sophisticated body measuring machine that provides high degree of consistency for all locally-assembled models.