Last month, Motor Image, Subaru’s distributor across nine ASEAN countries including the Philippines, sounded the alarm bells as its parent company, Tan Chong International (TCIL), issued a profit warning citing “problems with its automotive business.” Now, after the publication of its interim financial results for the first six months of 2024, we now know just how bad the picture is.
TCIL faced a very difficult January to June 2024 with profits dropping 85 percent (slightly better than the 86.6 percent in the profit warning). The downturn, according to the report was “largely due to the underperformance of its automotive division, which faced disappointing car sales and shrinking profit margins.”
Subaru is one of the few automotive brands in the Philippines that doesn’t publicize their monthly sales figures. Apparently, this is for good reason.
Digging through the report, TCIL cites the “continuous influx of new automotive brands brought about by a preferential tax regime” leading to Subaru Philippine sales dropping 33 percent compared to the same period in 2023. This is compared to a stellar 2023, where full-year sales rose 38 percent compared to 2022.
By comparison, new car sales have risen 11.8 percent with 226,277 new vehicle sold. Most automakers have seen their numbers rise, including Mazda, Subaru's direct competitor in the Philippines which saw their numbers rise 28 percent.
Sadly, the problem is widespread across other markets with Taiwan, Motor Image’s largest market, seeing sales plunge 51 percent. It’s the same picture in China (-57 percent), Cambodia (-31 percent), and Thailand (-64 percent). Subaru’s rapidly shrinking sales in Thailand has led the group to close its joint-venture assembly plant with Subaru Corporation.
Elsewhere, Malaysia sales dropped 5 percent, while in Hong Kong, it’s down 4 percent.
Only two markets showed positive trends in terms of sales: Vietnam and Singapore where figures are up 12 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
Despite the volatility of the current business climate, Motor Image and TCIL anticipates an improvement in performance for the remainder of 2024. They’re seeing encouraging signs of recovery in its automotive division, with “a promising order book for the second half of the year.”
Boring cars kasi.
ReplyDeleteBakit mo nasabing boring? Do you own a subie? 😂
DeleteBad cars what can you do.
ReplyDeleteNapaka unreliable kasi ng mga engines ayan tuloy
ReplyDeleteRunning 11 years without problems. Yung sayo, ano problem ng subaru mo?
DeleteWala yan siyang subaru. Panay nood lang sa youtube yan, akala niya lahat ng Subaru tuned and recklessly modded ang engine.
DeleteMaybe it’s time to have head gaskets just like everybody else 😁
ReplyDeleteThey do have head gaskets, though.
DeleteI have a neighbor who bought the xv 3 years ago. The owner who is a senior and regularly services the car at a casa told me his horrible experience with car. Basically the car needed an overhaul because of excessive oil consumption and leaks. He said the car is fine except for the unreliable engine. I know not everyone has the same experience, but scary to see his struggles as i always see the guy feeling resigned.
ReplyDeleteSubaru vehicles are dull,expensive and unreliable
ReplyDeleteThe cause is motor image overpricing of subaru cars
ReplyDeleteApart from not so stellar lineup, the atrocious service is what they're known for. Across, pre sales, sales and post sales, customer service is a concept unknown to the group. It's time that they hand over the Subaru brand to another group.
ReplyDeleteMotor Image's been handling the local distribution and sales of Subaru vehicles in the Philippine market for 20 years already
DeleteMotor Image though refuses to reduce the prices of its Subaru vehicles that's why the sales are badly affected
Aftersales for every dealers are so inconsistent. I even had one Subaru casa suggest lifting the entire engine for just a simple timing belt maintenance. Wtf...
DeleteDuring the Forester XT SG model series, wow those cars were very strong , durable, fun to drive and reasonably price, that era gave subaru the name and “boosted” sales. Sayang those days
ReplyDeleteSeeing these comments, i thought japan tops the quality of vehicles. Daihatsu, now subaru.. deym!!!! Is that why japan is now relying to china's innovation? Say toyota using byd's hev in the future..
ReplyDeleteExpensive, bad gas mileage and not even reliable.
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, all of the commenters here thus far have no experience with Subaru at all. Nakakatawa.
ReplyDeletei was looking at Subaru last year. Mainly because of its real-time AWD, and safety features. However, i keep seeing concerns/issues about the aircon. SO i went with Mazda instead.
ReplyDeleteI have a 2014 Forester XT. No issue whatsoever on the engine since day 1 and now 190,000KM on its belt. Their weakest is the wheel bearings. I replaced my rear wheel bearings at 90K km and at 150k km..yes twice already. Don't go to casa for maintenance. They charge exorbitantly. Learn your vehicle and DIY the maintenance. Just buy original parts from wherever you can get them. The new iteration of the Forester are soooo boringly designed these days.
ReplyDeleteAfter sales service has been a concern since 2007 when FXT was introduced and todate they have fixed it, wow very poor management!
ReplyDeleteThe main problem with Subaru is not service or reliability, but pricing. The XV and Forester used to be at the 1.2 to 1.5m range. Now, you can get an XV at 1.6m pero after a hefty 300k “discount”. We were able to buy a 2013 Forester brand new at 1.3m before. Ngayon kalahating Forester nalang mabibili niyan.
ReplyDeleteThe main problem with Subaru is not service or reliability, but pricing. The XV and Forester used to be at the 1.2 to 1.5m range. Now, you can get an XV at 1.6m pero after a hefty 300k “discount”. We were able to buy a 2013 Forester brand new at 1.3m before. Ngayon kalahating Forester nalang mabibili niyan.
ReplyDeleteI am an expat visiting with my wife and I have a 2018 Subaru crosstrek.
ReplyDeleteWhere we live it is the number 3 selling car behind Toyota and Honda.
We have had no problems with it and it’s all wheel drive and leading gas mileage inthe sub compact suv category.
When I was living here up until 2022 there were not many Subarus around and I doubt all the negative comments come from people who never owned one.
It handles extremely well in winter weather which I doubt nobody criticizing has ever driven in.
I don’t know about pricing here but in the states it is competitive.
Mine is a 2014 Forester 2.0iL. Replaced stabilizer bushings at 59k kms just 5months after it's 3rd year so wasn't covered by the warranty. Most serious issue was the multiple replacements of the transmission valve body costing more than p100k each incident. Thankful no breakdown yet after the 3rd one at 106k kms in Nov of 2021. In fairness, I love the road handling performance. Getting more than what I am expecting after almost 11years on the road with 165k kms on the odo.
ReplyDeleteI am contented with my Subaru XV ( crosstrek) 2019 model . I have experienced all cars from Mercedez to BMW, to Honda to Hyundai.. The Suburu for me is the best. True all the negative comments here are probably - PAID negative comments. Dr map
ReplyDeleteHeard that the compressor and suspension always breaks down. Also, cost of parts especially the transmission would cost half of the car, lol.
ReplyDeleteNot enough Showrooms thats the biggest problem
ReplyDeleteMost showrooms closed down due to dealership owners having hard time selling overpriced and bland Subaru vehicles
DeleteNew Foresters have weak engines that lack power. In attempting to have better gas milage, everything else was sacrificed, most important cutting back engine power, which was the biggest base buyers of Subaru. It seems Subaru does not know their buyers well.
ReplyDeleteim confused with the comments.. i always admire subaru cars and their cars are fun to drive... the only gripe i have against them is their pricing. at 2.2M you only get a small crossover when at that price you can already have a mid tier SUV like fortuner, explorer, terra etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's simple. The negative comments are coming from people who doesn't own a Subaru. All they're saying are merely their perceptions of Subaru and parroting whatever crap they heard from other people. Basically hearsay.
DeleteDouble hearsay, now its triple😅😅😅
Delete