8th Philippine International Motor Show will happen in 2022

Did you visit the opening day of the Manila International Auto Show?

Judging by the impression we got when we entered the main hall of the World Trade Center Manila, a lot of you did. And it seems many of the players in the auto industry were also eager to get going with major motor shows again. You can see that with big displays that we haven't seen since the last MIAS in 2019.

Needless to say, the wider auto industry is keeping a close eye on how MIAS goes, particularly the executives and organizers of the other major motor show in the country: PIMS.

Unlike MIAS (which is organized by Worldbex) the Philippine International Motor Show is organized by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), an industry association that comprises the big players in the industry. CAMPI members include Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda, Isuzu, Suzuki, Kia, Volkswagen and many more.

And now we can confirm it: the Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) will be held this year. This information comes from executives of PIMS members, but I reached out to president of CAMPI, Atty. Rommel Gutierrez, and he promptly replied:

“Yes Vince. Inggit kami sa MIAS. Haha.”

He was joking of course, but that's also a good sign. The industry has had a tough time dealing with a pandemic (why buy cars when you can't go out?), but they can now look on the bright side and with a positive outlook on the future.

This will be the 8th time the event will be staged as PIMS usually takes place every two years. The last PIMS was in 2018, while the 2020 edition was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Atty. Gutierrez says there's no theme yet for PIMS, but given that a the wider global auto industry is represented by the members of CAMPI, we expect a lot of efficient cars (with or without electrification) as well as battery EVs.

While MIAS happens in April, the Philippine International Motor Show typically happens around September. An insider told us that the 8th PIMS is actually penciled into the WTC schedule: September 15 to 18, 2022.

The venue has always been the World Trade Center Manila, though the last edition had an extension over at the SMX Convention Center.