Chinese car maker in talks with local firm

Chinese car brand Lifan announced they are in talks with Philippine company Star Motor Manufacturing Industries Inc. for a possible production of one of their cars here in the country.

In an interview, Lifan Cars president Nelson C. Ong said they are already shipping the prototype of their 520 car in the Laguna plant. He said the move will help make the brand be readily available to local consumers.

Right now, the 520 which is a mid size sedan being sold in the market are imported.

“We are negotiating right now so that we can produce locally. We have already applied with the BOI (Board of Investments),” Ong said.

The first locally assembled Lifan car will be available before the end of the year, Ong said.

Likewise, Lifan announced that they will be investing P100 million here in the country for this year alone.

Ong said they will be building 10 dealerships all over the country. The first one, which they opened last Friday, was at West Avenue.

Three more will be opened in Metro Manila while the remaining six will be in the provinces. Each dealership is worth P10 million.

Ong said because they are just introducing their brand in the local market, they have set modest targets. For this year, he said they would like to sell 800 units of their 520 car. The 520 is priced between P488,000 and P588,000.

“The 520 is a highly affordable car with features that are only seen in high end car models,” Ong noted.

In the coming months, Ong said they will introduce three more car models and a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). 

Ong said they will be introducing a compact car which is the 320 and a big car or the 620. He said they still have no targets for the cars that will be introduced. “It really depends on the market conditions.”

When asked about the timing of their launch given the slowdown in the demand for vehicles, Ong said this is the best time for them.

Local manufacturers expect a slow year with only four-percent growth this year.

However, Ong said the slowdown is applicable to Japanese made cars which are priced higher than China produced vehicles.

“This is a good time for us to enter the market because we are very affordable and the quality is at par with the others,” Ong noted.