Local car firm creating e-car prototype

Local vehicle company Michel Motorsport is working on a sport GT (grand tourer) design for an electric car that will soon be seen in European countries, in hopes of making the Philippines an Asian auto design hub. A GT is a high-performance automobile intended for long-distance driving. According to a statement from the company, a British investor tapped Michel Motorsport to create the prototype of the e-car, which is seen to compete against cars like the Porsche Carrera in the European market. Company president Jan Keirulf said the country has the potential to be the auto design capital, just as it has been touted as the “Milan of Asia" in the furniture industry. The prototype, made using local design talent and craftsmanship, will be shipped to Las Vegas mid-September to be exhibited at the 2011 Sema Show in November, a trade show that will feature over 1,500 customized four- and two-wheel vehicles from all over the world. “Depending on the level of creativity, we can do anything we want to do. Once we do the prototyping, we'll look at the horizon to see if we have what it takes to build a car," Kierulf said, adding that the tools needed to make molds are already in the country. Local parts manufacturers, meanwhile, made the most of locally-available parts needed to build a car. The executive said that the country needs to work together if the car design and assembly industry is to flourish. Government, for instance, could take measures to make conditions favorable for the industry. For example, he said, the government would tie up with local parts manufacturers in a National Car Program with the goal to produce a local car. "The best way to move forward is to buy the technology outright. We don't have to build something from scratch. We can follow what the developed countries did in the past – seek help from our neighbors. We don't have to insist to do 100-percent Filipino all the time. How China did it was to reverse engineer first, then when they already had the money, they bought rights and licenses and produced cars from those technologies," he said. He added that buying foreign technologies would not undermine the idea of locally creating a car but would instead give the local auto industry a necessary push forward in the world of vehicle design. "This can be a halo project, just to get the industry moving and investors and motorists to take notice. Our goal is to eventually create a mass market car at the P400,000 price point. We want to encourage the big car assemblers to also join the National Car Program," he said. - Bea Cupin/KBK, GMA News