Report: Astara plans to bring in more brands to PH market

Astara, the official distributor of GAC and Peugeot models in the Philippine market, plans to introduce “some” more brands into the country. 

Astara distributes the likes of the Opel Crossways in Columbia

This was revealed by Astara Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jorge Navea at a breakfast meeting with the media, which Philkotse Head of Content & Video Jacob Oliva attended.  

It was further stated by Navea that Astara’s target for these new upcoming car brands is a 10 percent market share. With regards to which brands Astara is bringing in, however, no details were disclosed. For that matter, the timetable for this plan wasn’t revealed as well.  

So what other car brands is Astara handling in the global market yet to be released in the Philippines? For starters, it distributes notable European marques in a few countries. One example of this includes Opel in Latin America. 

Astara likewise distributes products of China-based electric car specialist Aiways in Switzerland and Spain. Furthermore, it also sells Exceed cars in Chile. Note that Exceed is the luxury arm of Chery Automobile Co. Ltd.  

With all that said, it is highly likely that the brands Astara is planning on rolling out for the Philippine market in the future will be one or two of those listed above.   

Aiways cars are sold under Astara in Switzerland and Spain (Aiways U5 pictured)

A market share of 10 percent, however, is quite large in the grand scope of things. To put this into perspective, statistics specialist MarkLines says that as of 2022, Toyota has a market share of 45.52 percent in the Philippine market. Mitsubishi meanwhile commands 17.05 percent of the market, while Ford has 7.14 percent of the Philippine market share.  

So to achieve that 10 percent market share, Astara is likely to bring in established brands with models that have proven to be popular in other markets.  

As with most speculations though, do take these with a grain of salt. Better yet, let's wait for Astara to provide more concrete details regarding the brands it’ll bring in. 

For now, keep it here on Philkotse for more car news.