Chery Auto may set up a plant in the Philippines

Chinese car maker Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. is studying the feasibility of setting up an assembly plant and a training center in the Philippines to boost its after-sales support network.

Gary Tung, Chery International sales manager for the Asia-Pacific and South Africa region, said the company has started its research and feasibility study on the
assembly plant.

Jonas Silva, marketing and after-sales service manager of Iseway Motor Philippines Inc., exclusive distributor of Chery cars in the country, said although there is 'nothing concrete yet,' Chery Cars 'might open' the assembly plant by next year.

'It's just a matter of us Iseway sitting down with the mother company,' Silva said.

Silva said the car maker will also open the Chery Asia Pacific Training Center in Makati, which will offer training to dealers and sub-dealers not only in the Philippines but also to those in Asia Pacific.

The first training session at the training center is slated next month. It will cover technical, marketing and sales training patterned after Chery's international training curriculum.

At present, Chery has 12 active dealers nationwide. Four more dealerships will be established in different parts of the country by the end of this month.

Silva said the Chery Cars has also registered several projects, including the assembly line, with the Bureau of Investments (BOI).

'This will show that Chery is here to stay and is serious about the Philippine market,' Silva said.

The assembly line, which Silva said will manufacture complete units, would bring down prices of Chery units. The company might also be able to cover more than what is covered by warranty.

Tung, who visited the Chery showroom in Mandaue City and its service center in Minglanilla as part of a team of Chery engineers, said the car maker was able to achieve an average growth of 10 percent every year since it started to export automobiles from China in 2003.

Last year, only 180,000 units were exported to different parts of the world but this year, the number went up to 220,000.

Tung described the Philippines as one of its fast-growing markets in the Asian region.

Iseway recently closed a deal with Coca-Cola to supply the softdrink company with 300 car units. Silva said the company is now talking to about four companies for its fleet account.

Should the firms close the deals, he said this would mean an average of 400 units to be ordered by each company, bringing their market share up to 30 percent.