Driven by MG parent company SAIC Motor Corporation’s global direction, the brand will be handled by SAIC Motor Philippines (SMP), a new national sales company.

“I wish we could have handled MG for a much longer period,” says Atty. Albert Arcilla, TCCCI president. “But it’s been the global direction of SAIC Motor to establish a national sales office in every market they have a presence in. After our distributorship contract ends on July 31, it will be the same in the Philippines.”

It’s bittersweet for Arcilla and the TCCCI team who managed to grow the MG brand in the Philippines. To date, they’ve managed to move more than 25,000 units making it the most successful Chinese car brand in terms of annualized sales growth. Moreover, they’ve managed to open 42 dealerships.

During the transition, it will be business as usual. SMP has been working and coordinating closely with TCCCI to make sure current MG dealers are kept abreast on all developments. Arcilla has also assured that MG customers will continue to enjoy an ample supply of spare parts and that there will be no disruption in operations. In fact, two shipments of new vehicles are currently in transit to the country.

Citing their lean and agile workforce, there will be no layoffs or redundancies. Dedicated MG personnel will be absorbed by TCCCI for its other brands. That said, they are not discounting the fact that some might make the move to SMP.

Arcilla has confirmed that SAIC Motor Philippines will not be a joint-venture, meaning TCCCI will not have any share in the newly formed national sales office. However, compared to other times that brands changed hands, there are no animosity or bad blood between SAIC Motor and TCCCI. TCCCI is not closing the door on possibly offering services, possibly warehousing and pre-delivery inspection, down the road. These details are still being ironed out with SMP, he says.

Moving forward, TCCCI will concentrate their efforts on its other brands, Chevrolet and Volvo.

Aside from the Trax compact crossover launching on July 4, two new vehicles—one sourced from China and other sourced from Korea—will join the Philippine line-up by the latter half of 2023. After that, they will bring in more global model offerings including Chevrolet’s HEV and BEV range.

Meanwhile, for Volvo, two BEVs, the XC40 Recharge and the C40 Recharge, will enter the market this year.

Arcilla has also revealed that they have been approached by several global brands to serve as their Philippine distributor. Nothing concrete has been decided yet.