Saturday, October 06, 2007 Car dealers call on gov’t to solve smuggling, sale of stolen vehicles
A GROUP of automotive car dealers in Cebu is more concerned about the allegedly high incident of car smuggling in the country rather than the bilateral agreement between the Philippines and Japan.
Cebu Auto Dealers Association (Cada) spokesman Carlos Yu Abellanosa said the group is less concerned about the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) that is reported to affect the automotive and transport industry.
“The Jpepa is okay as long as the entry of used vehicles is legal. That is not a problem. The issue is we are losing to smugglers and carnappers,” said Abellanosa.
The Jpepa, signed by the governments of Japan and the Philippines in December 2002, aims to facilitate and promote the free trans-border flow of goods, persons, services and capital between the two countries.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, Abellanosa said growth in Cebu’s automotive industry is strongly hampered by the continued smuggling of cars, which caused the sector millions of pesos in losses.
He said some of the alleged “illegal” luxury vehicles that enter the province include Mustangs, Porsche and high-end sports utility vehicles.
“Even people in Manila are buying their smuggled cars here,” he said, but declined to elaborate.
“This is really unfair because we have invested so much,” he added.
Abellanosa said smuggled cars are twice cheaper than brand new vehicles, causing some people to buy the illegally imported vehicles instead.
He said industry players have made efforts to bring in affordable brand new car units but carnapping and buying stolen cars is another “pressing” problem.
This is why, he said, Cada will increase its advocacy to actively campaign against the “rampant illegal importation” of vehicles and the selling of carnapped vehicles.
Cada will submit a letter to President Arroyo once it has gathered all necessary information, said Abellanosa, who is also Mazda Cebu general manager.
Earlier, Isuzu Philippines Corp. president Keiji Takeda said he is optimistic that the government is undertaking measures to prevent smuggling. He said the government should how smuggling has caused “serious damage” to the industry.
While he could not give exact figures, Takeda said earnings of vehicle smugglers are comparable to those of the company.
Cada is composed of leading automotive dealers in the country including Hyundai, Isuzu, Volvo, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, Mazda, and BMW. (MMM)
