It took more than three years of consultations with the auto industry and its stakeholders before the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) finally had Malacanang approve Executive Order (EO) 182 or the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program on May 29, 2015. That is just about the same amount of time needed to develop a new car model.
Ferdinand Raquelsantos, president of the Philippine Parts Maker Association (formerly the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines), said the CARS Program was a consolidation of the various long-term industry roadmaps that the DTI requested from the car assemblers, truck manufacturers, automotive importers, electric vehicle manufacturers and auto parts makers as far as three years ago.