The decision of Honda Cars Philippines (HCPI) to stop local assembly may not be the last. Sta. Rosa City mayor Arlene Arcillas revealed that Nissan is following suit as well.
In a radio interview with DZMM program Dos-Por-Dos, Arcillas says that the city council has already been made aware of Nissan Philippines’s plan to stop the manufacture of the Almera sub-compact sedan locally.
Unlike Honda though, Nissan plans to maintain a presence in Sta. Rosa, but only in an assembly capacity. Arcillas says that the third best-selling car brand in the country will assemble vehicles using CKD kits imported from outside the Philippines. This will result in Nissan having to downsize its workforce says Arcillas, but the effect would not be as drastic compared to Honda’s decision to shutter its assembly which will lay off more than 380 workers.
Currently, the Nissan Almera is built from the ground up (including body panel stamping) at the Nissan Technopark in Sta. Rosa, Laguna by Univation Motor Philippines (formerly Nissan Motor Philippines, Inc.).
Arcillas also says that the “Motor City of the Philippines,” will stand to lose around 80-million pesos in annual business taxes from HCPI’s closure.
We have reached out to Nissan Philippines regarding this. This story will be updated with any new information.
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