UNPAID dues to the country‘s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program will be settled this year, Board of Investments Managing Head and Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo told reporters over the weekend.
The program, launched in 2015, aimed to revitalize local vehicle manufacturing through fiscal incentives for participants that would produce at least 200,000 units of their enrolled model within six years.
Mitsubishi and Toyota joined the program through their Mirage and Vios models, respectively.
Earlier this year, the government promised to pay P4.3 billion in obligations to the program using savings from the 2025 national budget and unused funds from the Department of Public Works and Highways, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed allocations for cars in the 2026 budget.
The government is now prioritizing another program, the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (EVIS), which will be given an executive order with guidelines before the president‘s State of the Nation Address in July, Rodolfo said.
EVIS is being promoted to draw more electric vehicle investors in the country.
Through the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (Evida) law, EVIS offers fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to support local assembly of EVs and components to boost local manufacturing of electric vehicles, batteries, and charging infrastructure.
It also seeks to lower emissions and reduce fuel import dependence, as well as create 680,000 new jobs and generate P120 billion in investments.
EVIS is also seen to generate P11.4 trillion in economic output, and narrow the cost gap between EVs and traditional motor vehicles.
So far, only Mitsubishi has committed to join the program, saying it will build a hybrid EV model by mid-2028.
Another automotive company wants to join, Rodolfo said, but declined to give details.