The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI), the exclusive distributor of Chevrolet in the Philippines has released an official statement regarding General Motor’s decision to withdraw the Chevrolet brand from the Thailand market, and to sell its Rayong manufacturing facility.

For the sake of transparency, we are publishing their statement in full:

“Following the difficult decision by GM to cease local manufacturing and withdraw the Chevrolet brand from sale in Thailand by the end of 2020, GM wishes to reaffirm its partnership with TCCCI and continued focus on growing the Chevrolet brand and business in the Philippines. 

GM Southeast Asia President, Hector Villarreal, reconfirmed GM’s partnership with TCCCI in the Philippines and the company’s ongoing commitment to ensuring our regional customers’ Aftersales needs are met.  

“The Philippines remains a very important market for GM and Chevrolet, and we will continue working with our valued partners at TCCCI to grow Chevrolet in the Philippines.” 

“Customers can also rest assured we are committed to maintaining Aftersales continuity and the flow of spare parts to our customers in Thailand, Philippines and across the region. A dedicated Aftersales and Customer Care team will remain in Thailand to ensure our customers across the region, including the Philippines, are continued to be looked after,” said Mr. Villarreal.

Now that we have the official statement out of the way, it’s worth noting that the press statement did come with one ominous line:

“More information from The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI) will be shared soon.”

Taking this line in context with Chevrolet’s decision to pretty much withdraw its sales and manufacturing footprint in the Southeast Asian region, could mean that the American brand will undergo a transformation, perhaps sourcing its products outside the ASEAN region. It’s highly likely they will look to GM’s massive presence in China in search of new product offerings. They will also likely expand their offering of North American units beyond the Tahoe and Suburban which were previously confirmed for the local market.