Mitsubishi may double capacity of Laguna plant

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) is mulling to further hike the production capacity of its facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, to 100,000 units if the government’s program offering P27 billion incentives to vehicle assemblers gains ground.

Osamu Masuko, chair and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. of Japan, said in a briefing Wednesday that the local unit’s assembly plant could produce up to 50,000 units at full capacity. This, however, could be further ramped up, depending on the industry’s situation in the next several years.

Masuko said it was also possible for MMPC to introduce a new model for production.

Such plans are hinged on the success of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy Program (CARS), of which MMPC seeks to be a participant.

The company’s target was to invest an initial P4.3 billion for the first phase of assembly plant enhancements and for the installation of large stamping facilities, which would be used to produce the hatchback and sedan variants of the Mirage.

MMPC first vice president for marketing Froilan Dytianquin, meanwhile, said the company expected to start producing here about 12,000 units of the Mirage next year and about 18,000 units of the L300 and Adventure models. He said the company would increase production depending on market demand.

Dytianquin said the local assembly of the Mirage would complement the existing production in Thailand, where the company currently imports the model.

Mirage is currently one of the best-selling models of MMPC, with sales reaching 17,000 units last year, while those of the Adventure and L300 hit about 7,000 units and 8,000 units, respectively. MMPC anticipates a 15 to 20 percent increase in the sales of Mirage this year.

MMPC is also entertaining the possibility of exporting Mirage if the cost becomes more competitive compared to those from the other production facilities in the region.

To complement the planned production growth, the firm brought the top management of some 20 Japanese car parts suppliers to the Philippines to assess the country’s existing investor climate. Some of these companies included Denso, Yazaki Corp., NHK Spring Co. Ltd., Katayama Co., Tokai Rika Co., and Yokohama Rubber Co., among others.