SPARKS FLY. The Innova being welded together. Photos by Tessa R. Salazar
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has great potential to become Asia’s auto design hub, as the country has the competencies for design, car development and project management, according to local vehicle prototyper Michel Motorsport.
Michel Motorsport president Jan Kierulf said that given the right government support, the Philippines could become the auto design capital of Asia, the same way the country has been touted as the “Milan of Asia” in the furniture industry.
“All the competencies that we need to make a car are here, we just don’t know it. Creating a car all starts with a good idea. If you have a good idea of what you want to do, you have to confirm it with a good marketing study. After the study, we do the prototyping. Filipino programmers can do the conceptual prototyping then Filipino craftsmen then make the actual prototype,” Kierulf said in a statement.
Michel Motorsport, he said, is completing a sport GT design for a performance electric car that will soon roam the streets of Europe, using local talent.
Tapped by a British investor to create the prototype, Michel Motorsport is using local design talent and craftsmanship to create a car that will go head to head with the likes of Porsche Carrera in the European market.
The prototype will be shipped to Las Vegas in mid-September to prepare it for exhibition at the 2011 Sema Show, a trade show in November that will feature more than 1,500 customized and accessorized four-wheel and two-wheel vehicles from all over the world.
For the country to move forward in the field of car design and assembly, however, Kierulf said industry players would have to work closely together. The government also has to step up and make the business environment more conducive to pursuing such ventures.
The government, for example, could tie up with local parts manufacturers for a National Car Program, with a common goal to produce a local car.
Instead of developing an engine locally, Kierulf said the program could push those in the industry to just buy existing technologies from global car makers, the same way China developed its own vehicle industry.
“The best way to move forward is to buy the technology outright. We don’t have to build something from scratch. We can follow what the developed countries did in the past—seek help from our neighbors,” he said.
Kierulf clarified that the strategy of buying foreign technologies to run the car would not undermine the Filipino nature of the vehicle to be developed. Instead, it would just give the local auto industry enough of a boost to get on the path of vehicle design.