AutoFun Philippines received confirmation that the Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA) is no longer a manufacturer’s club for Japanese brands as it welcomes TVS Philippines into its fold.

The MDPPA has had non-Japanese brand members in the past, like Motorstar and KYMCO, but until recently, the organization kept a tight membership among the so-called “Big Four” Japanese manufacturers - Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha.

TVS Motor Company is a reputed two and three-wheeler manufacturer globally, championing progress through Sustainable Mobility with four state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Hosur, Mysuru, Nalagarh in India, and Karawang in Indonesia. The TVS brand has a market presence in 80 countries globally.

In the Philippines, TVS attained a level of success for some of its models, like the Apache and the NTORQ, but the local market reception for the brand in general is rather lukewarm. TVS has yet to achieve here the level of popularity it enjoys in its home country of India and in other parts of the world. Hopefully, its decision to join MDPPA will help in this regard.

The MDPPA will mark its 50th anniversary this weekend, and the organization will hold a grand celebration at the Trinoma Activity Center in Quezon City.

On October 7, the organization will also stage another grand event at the TESDA training center in Taguig. This is in line with its goal of promoting road safety, regulation compliance, environmental protection, technology innovation through active consultation, representation, and communication with various stakeholders.​

We are expecting that MDPPA will make the official announcement on TVS’ membership during these two events.

Do you think TVS’ membership will turn MDPPA into an organization of the “Big Five”?