INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Local auto parts makers are pushing for the implementation of the government’s proposed $500-million electric tricycle program as this will not only boost their ailing industry, but also help make the country a regional hub for electric parts supply and vehicle assembly.
In a statement, the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP) and the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) noted that the expected influx of local and foreign investments in the electric vehicle industry will provide much-needed incremental income and employment to member companies.
MVPMAP is composed of some 125 local auto parts makers while the newly organized EVAP is composed of some 27 electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, assemblers, importers, dealers, members of the academe and enthusiasts.
“Some 50,000 employees are dependent on the local parts making industry. Considering that more than 25 percent of our labor force is not fully utilized with 9.8 percent of them unemployed and another 19.2 percent of them underemployed, this e-Trike program will help us and our employees get back on our feet,” said MVPMAP President Ferdi Raquelsantos.
Under the e-trike program, the government plans to replace 100,000 fuel-fed tricycle units with energy efficient e-trikes to help reduce the transport sector’s gasoline consumption by 561,000 barrels yearly, thus avoiding 260,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
According to Raquelsantos, the e-Trike program has already caught the interest of foreign investors, judging from their interest in the recent 2012 Electric Vehicle Summit.
“Major EV players from Japan, Korea and Taiwan were around to scout for local business partners for the e-Trike Program. Now, even if just two of them put up EV manufacturing operations in the country, they have to invest at least $8 million under our Motor Vehicle Development Program,” he explained.
“That would be an investment of about P688 million that would benefit our local parts makers and labor force. This is enough to jumpstart our local EV industry and if we just play our cards right, we just might be the hub of EV parts supply and vehicle assembly in the region,” Raquelsantos added.
EVAP president Rommel Juan, meanwhile, noted that with the 100,000 units valued at about $5,000 each, the business to be generated by the e-Trike Program will easily go up to P21.5 billion.
“The EV industry is targeting local value-added parts and labor of 70 percent as we still need to import parts and components not yet locally manufactured such as motors, controllers, lithium ion batteries, steering systems, suspension systems and the like. But all of these technologies will soon be transferred to us in the long run and that is what makes us even more optimistic about the program,” Juan said.