www.chinatrucks.com: Chinese motor vehicles are slowly eating into the domestic market having accounted for over 2 percent of last year's 180,000 unit total industry sales and are expected to gain more traction as Chinese car companies aggressively establish dealership networks and putting up local assembly operations.

Gregorio Yee of DreamCo Automobile Co. Inc., the local assembler of Chinese car brands, said there were an estimated 4,000 units of imported Chinese vehicles that were sold last year in the local market last year.

Of this figure, the commercial motor vehicles contributed the bulk of 3,800 units, mostly trucks and buses, and the passenger cars with 200 units.

"This is expected to further grow this year," Yee said.

He said there are about 12 Chinese car brands that are being marketed locally and are aggressively establishing distribution networks. This is also part of the efforts among Chinese car manufacturers to address some technical issues leveled against their products.

"Once the sales volume increases, more Chinese firms will invest in the country," he said.

DreamCo alone is one of two Chinese car brands that have been registered with the Board of Investments for the assembly of Chinese motor vehicles, the other firm is State Motors.

DreamCo, which has a technical partnership with one of China's leading motor vehicle manufacturers Jiangling Motors Co. (JMC), is investing an additional P10 million for the assembly of its SUV model Orion.

truck of Jiangling Motors Co. Ltd

This brought its overall investments to R30 million at the Star Motors assembly facility that it shares with sister company Universal Motors Corp. DreamCo is only producing 30 units a month while UMC assembles 550 units (Nissan Patrol, Navarra and Urvan) a month making the assembly plant with total production capacity of 1,200 units highly underutilized.

Aside from the SUV line, DreamCo also assembles a pick-up truck, medium and heavy duty and light trucks. It has over 14 dealers nationwide.

But Yee said that when volume picks up, they may add another shift at its assembly operation.

Source : Manila Bulletin

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