DESPITE not having a dealership yet, the distributor of a French automotive company last week said it is eyeing to take a 5-percent market share of the Philippine auto industry in five years.

Felix Mabilog Jr., president of Eurobrands Distributor Inc.—the distributor of Peugeot in the country—said that the company is targeting the share should the current economic climate of the domestic automotive industry continue.

“I believe that the target is reasonable. The target is 5 percent in five years for Peugeot because we believe that the Philippines is an emerging country and is no longer the sick man of Asia. The economy is bullish now and if this would continue, more and more Filipinos could afford to buy the product,” Mabilog said.

He added that Peugeot might be able to attain sales of 10,000 units a year if the economy remains upbeat.

For his part, PSA Peugeot Citroen World Press and External Relations Manager, Marc Bocque said that the carmaker is investing more on non-European countries as most of its sales come from Asia, which have around 450,000 dealers.

“We expect that the economic climate in the country would continue as we are looking forward to providing quality products that Peugeot can offer,” he said.

Lionel Faugeres, Automobiles Peugeot general director for ASEAN countries, said that the company is investing in the region, “mainly in Southeast Asia because we want to strengthen our product at the most promising region.”

Eurobrands said it is set to put up six dealerships by year’s end, four of which will be in Metro Manila. Another six dealerships will be added in 2013. It will be selling four models; the RCZ sports car, 5008 people carrier, 508 luxury sedan and 3008 SUV. All four vehicles will be offered with diesel variants.