DTI sets 2nd bidding for testing of ‘faulty’ SUVs

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has set a May 30 deadline for the submission of bids on a contract to subject to a comprehensive test five Mitsubishi Montero Sport units which reportedly experienced sudden unintended acceleration (SUA).

This is the second time that the DTI will hold a bidding for third-party laboratory testing of the sport utility vehicle (SUV). The first one in April failed as the lone bidder was deemed ineligible.

With the bids to be opened on May 30, actual tests are expected in June or July.

“We want this matter concluded, the sooner the better,” said Yoshiaki Kato, president and chief executive of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC).

Asked whether the controversy has affected sales of the Montero, especially with a new-generation vehicle launched recently, Kato said in an interview that this was difficult to pinpoint. “There is an impact, but it’s hard to say or describe,” he said.

The MMPC chief explained that monthly sales volume of the new-generation Montero was within the range of 600 to 700 units.

“Before launch, we were selling about 1,500 units a month of the older Montero,” he said.

While this coincided with the height of the SUA controversy, Kato said declining sales were also characteristic of a vehicle model’s end-of-life. The older Montero had been available in the Philippine market since 2008.

“Buyers were aware that a new-generation Montero was coming up so they waited for it to be available instead of buying the older one,” he added.

When the first bidding in April failed, the MMPC reported that strong demand for the controversial SUV was a strong driver of surging first quarter sales.

In one of the supposed SUA cases reported last year, a 25-year-old woman complained that her Montero suddenly accelerated as she was traveling on Quezon Avenue in Quezon City, ramming into a road rail guard and a concrete barrier.