Govt mulls eco-PUV as option for CARS 3rd spot

THE government is looking at the ecopublic utility vehicle program (eco-PUV) as an option for the third slot of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program, a trade official said.

“We are looking at the eco-PUV as an option to utilize the third CARS slot,” Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said during the pre- event press conference of the 1st Asean Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Summit on June 16.

The eco-PUV is a separate program that uses the CARS program as a model but its elements may not be the same, Rodolfo added.

The CARS program has fixed incentives support, variable incentive support, and 40,000 units a year minimum burden.

“For the PUVs, it has a current number of jeepneys that you would like to modernize; you also have social engineering aspect,” Rodolfo added.

The DTI’s contribution is to provide the manufacturing solution for the eco-PUV program, he said, noting that this means providing a solution for the overall manufacturing program or the PUV modernization program.

“So, we’d like to have an attempt for our domestic manufacturers to supply the needs,” Rodolfo said.

Earlier, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said they will give their inputs and assured that they have an available model for the government’s jeepney modernization program.

The program does not only involve the upgrade of 15-year- old jeepneys to new ones but the power train will either have to be environment-friendly Euro 4 engines or alternative-fuel type like electric and hybrid, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), LNG (liquefied natural gas) and CNG (compressed natural gas).

The CARS Program aims to raise local vehicle manufacturing to expand the country’s auto parts-making capabilities. The two main players of the program are Mitsubishi and Toyota Motors Corp.

Toyota and Mitsubishi will be initially investing a total of P7.5 billion to produce their respective enrolled models, the all0new (full model change) Vios and the Mirage/Mirage G4, of which 20 percent or P1.6 billion will come from local parts suppliers.