Mitsubishi Motors PH inaugurates new Sta. Rosa facility

MANILA, Philippines – Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) girds for a new age in productivity and, perhaps, sales performance with the opening of a manufacturing plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Located within a 21.4-hectare property in the sprawling Greenfield Automotive Park, the factory expected to immediately impact local production of Mitsubishi’s established badges, the Adventure and L300, by upping the rollout rate from 30,000 to 50,000 a year. About 60 percent of the vehicle parts are made locally.

“We have been doing business in the Philippines for more than 50 years,” said MMPC president and CEO Hikosaburo Shibata in his welcome speech during the plant’s formal inauguration last Thursday. “We are, in fact, one of the oldest automotive brands in the country. The transfer is a strategic move that will enable us to adapt better to our growing industry.” The opening of MMPC’s new facility also ends a storied chapter for the carmaker’s former assembly plant and offices at the smaller (at 18.3 hectares) Cainta location.

Shibata revealed that MMPC’s 2014 sales performance that breached 50,000 units also established a new record for the company, marking “eight consecutive years of growth.” MMPC remains bullish about its forecast this year, anticipating sales of 62,000 units – that would effectively corner 20 percent of the market.

The MMPC head said he expects the company to contribute to employment opportunities at it copes with increased vehicle demand borne by greater motorization in the Philippines. The move to Sta. Rosa “is part of (the) Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) ‘New Stage 2016’ mid-term plan (to reinforce) business in the Philippines as a core market following Thailand and Indonesia. This is in preparation for MMC’s further business development in ASEAN countries,” continued an MMPC statement.

The Sta. Rosa plant will boast “bigger and better facilities,” said Shibata – particularly the “most advanced” plastic paint shop in the country. MMPC further revealed that a “sophisticated body-measuring machine that provides a high degree of consistency will soon be a part of the facilities.” Shibata declared that the assembly plant promises the “highest quality and cost efficiency.”

Guests to the inauguration included President Benigno S. Aquino III, Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Japan) chairman and CEO Osamu Masuko, Cabinet Sec. Rene Almendras, and Department of Trade and Industry Sec. Gregory Domingo, Philippine Export Zone Authority director general Lilia de Lima, and executives of various automobile companies and of related industries. Also in a speech, Masuko said he expects the Philippines to register the greatest growth for Mitsubishi in the region.

Along with the increase in employment (MMPC currently has almost 1,000 on its workforce), the company promised to open five additional outlets this year. Shibata said in a statement that MMPC expects government to pitch in through a “sound auto manufacturing policy… that (will) strengthen competitiveness of local vehicle and parts manufacturing operations among other ASEAN production facilities.” – Photos by the author and MIKE AMOROSO