Suzuki Phils to export motorcycle parts this year

MANILA, Philippines - Suzuki Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of Japanese firm Suzuki Motor Corp. plans to start shipping motorcycle parts by the end of the year and exporting locally produced motorcycles by next year, an official said.

“By the end of this year, we plan to export some exterior (motorcycle) parts,” Suzuki Philippines president Satoshi Uchida told reporters at the sidelines of the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the firm, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Motorcycle Philippines Federation (MCPF) for a motorcycle safety program yesterday.

The firm, he said, would start shipping the parts from its new plant at the Carmelray Industrial Park in Canlubang in Laguna to Indonesia first.

“We will start with 2,000 pieces or units,” he said.

In the long-term, the company intends to increase the volume of shipments and sell to other countries in the Southeast Asian region.

Apart from exporting motorcycle parts, Uchida said the firm aims to start selling motorcycles assembled at its Laguna plant to other countries in Southeast Asia by next year.

“This year, we plan to produce 100,000 motor bikes from our plant which will only be for the domestic market,” he said.

Earlier, the firm said it is aiming for a 10-percent increase in motorcycle sales this year from the 94,000 units sold in 2012.

Of the 94,000 units sold last year, only 30,000 were produced from the plant in Laguna, another 30,000 came from its old plant in Pasig City, while the balance was imported from Indonesia and Thailand.

The Canlubang plant, which has an annual capacity of 200,000 units, started full operations in May last year.

Before opening the Canlubang plant, Suzuki’s assembly plant was a 6,706-sq. meter facility located in Pasig City which has a maximum production capacity of 8,000 units per month.

The firm decided to relocate its manufacturing plant and expand operations with the growing motorcycle market both in the country and the Southeast Asian region.

Suzuki Philippines forged a partnership with the LTO and the MCPF to implement for the second year the Motorcycle Safety Learn to Ride Program which seeks to minimize the incidence of road accidents involving motorcycles in the country through the conduct of seminars.

According to the Philippine National Police, about 5,300 of 11,000 road accidents in the country involve motorcycles.