Geely Philippines will increase prices due to the DTI safeguard bond

Geely Philippines will have a price increase on the Coolray, Azkarra, and the Okavango, however, this won’t be effective immediately.

This is due to the additional safeguard duties applied by DTI on most imported vehicles. As per the President, and CEO of Sojitz G Auto Philippines, Mikihisa Takayama, it is quite unfortunate for the government agency to issue like this, especially now, that the automotive industry is expected to recover from last year’s sales drop given the pandemic.

While three of its models, including the Coolray, Azkarra, and Okavango are affected, no exact increase figures were stated by the Chinese automaker just yet. Then again, this won’t take effect immediately, which means Geely buyers can still purchase their preferred vehicle at its current pricing.

Additional taxes are to be applied on most imported vehicles in order to provide a breathing space to the domestic industry. Also, this was done in response to the petition submitted by the Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance (PMA) that sought to save local vehicle assembly operations. Based on the Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act, a cash bond of P70,000 per unit will be applied on passenger cars/vehicles under AHTN Code 8703, while Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) are bound for a P110,000 cash bond per unit under the AHTN Codes 8704.21.19 and 8704.21.29.

Despite that, SGAP remains optimistic that the auto sales for this year will make a rebound. Moreover, they also hope that the market can adjust to the new higher prices which are to be implemented soon.