A top official of Ford Group Philippines said the Philippines has a potential as another automotive hub of Asean other than Thailand.

In a presentation on the Local Government Unit Conference for Sustained Philippine Competitiveness at the AIM last month, Ford Group chairman Henry T. Co said the Philippines could still be the "United States of Asean" other than Thailand, which is the manufacturing hub for American automotive firms.

"In a region of 600 million people with some of the faster growing economies in the world, there is an opportunity for another country other than Thailand to be a manufacturing hub for automobiles," Co said.

In this light, Co noted that the Philippines should work harder and develop a vehicle manufacturing.

"We are a country of 90 million people and we need a manufacturing industry and we have the capability to develop one. There are very few developed countries in the world with a population of more than 20 million which do not have vehicle manufacturing," Co said.

Co is not in favor of giving up vehicle manufacturing and resorting to importation of cars and parts as what New Zealand did, noting that vehicle assembly has value as it generates allied industries.

"If no one builds cars, no one will make seats, aluminum wheels, wiring harnesses, brake tubes, castings, stamping parts, paint, chemicals, glass etc.," Co said.

He said as the Philippines phases in with regional and bilateral trade agreements which require us to liberalize, "it is time for us to decide what we want to do."

Co is espousing for the development of an automotive industry roadmap that would set the direction of the industry.

"We need more strategic focus. We need more consistency in policy formulation and implementation," Co said.

Co said the Philippine automotive manufacturing in the Philippines for the past 25 years had been faced with challenges such that finished motor vehicle trade balance is rapidly deteriorating.

Over the past 10 years manufacturing has shrunk from about 140,000 in 1997 to about 60,000 in 2007.

Co said in comparison, Thailand last year produced more than 1.3 million vehicles for the domestic and export markets.

Despite this, Co believes the Philippine automotive industry is very close to a takeoff.

The automotive assembly in the Philippines is made up of players engaged in engine and transmission assembly and manufacture of seats, seat frames, foam pads, seat covers; interior trims, door sidings, carpets; molded and extruded rubber, tires; Al, steel wheels; wiring harness, batteries, starter, alternator motors; small and some large plastic injection; small stamping parts; insulation and; paints, sealers, other chemicals.

In fact, like other countries in the region we too can make our national car. Malaysia has subsidized its national car program, the Proton, while Thailand encouraged auto multinationals to invest in its country.

"The auto industry can be used to spur industrial development as historically proven by many of the developed industrialized countries in the world today. It’s not too late," Co said.