Troubles continue to hound Subaru Asia distributor Motor Image as its parent company recently issued a profit warning to its investors. Aside from closing a factory in Thailand earlier this year, Singapore- and Hong Kong-based Tan Chong International Limited (TCIL) announced it experienced a massive decline in profits.

Based on a profit warning issued by TCIL, the company shared that its total profits in the first half of 2024 fell from HKD 432 million to HKD 250 million compared to the same period last year. With tax applied, the profit figures dipped from HKD 187 million to HKD 25 million. This translates to a severe 86.6% drop in profits.

The severe drop in sales and profits (as well as significant losses) were mostly attributed to CKD (complete knock-down) markets like Malaysia & Thailand, and CBU (completely built-up) countries that include Taiwan, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Despite the “very challenging circumstances” TCIL is currently facing, the company said their overall financial health and operations remain stable. They also expect to bounce back in the second half of the year based on their “relatively strong” number of bookings.

In the Philippines, Subaru was able to sell on average around 3,000 units per year between 2015 to 2019. During the pandemic years of 2020 - 2021, sales dipped below 1,000 units. Then in 2022, Subaru was able to bounce back by selling 1,437 units. For 2023, the automaker was able to sell 2,087 vehicles which is good but is still only 66% of what they sold during the pre-pandemic years.

The company's financial performance will be revealed in the interim results announcement in greater detail before the end of August of this year.