MANILA - Chevrolet Philippines was surprised after recently passed tax reforms made some of their luxury vehicles less expensive, its president said Monday.

Chevrolet Philippines president and managing director Alberto Arcilla said the American carmaker was anticipating that prices of vehicles would rise across the board.

"However, it turned out that for the high-end cars, the more expensive cars, the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law actually brought down the price," Arcilla told ANC's The Boss.

Prior to TRAIN, vehicles costing over P2.1 million used to be taxed P512,000 plus 60 percent of the excess over P2.1 million. But under TRAIN, vehicles costing P1 million to P4 million would just have a 20 percent tax, while vehicles costing over P4 million would just be taxed 50 percent.

The suggested retail price of the Chevrolet Suburban 5.3 4x2 last year was P5,238,888. Under TRAIN, the same vehicle now costs P4,852,888 or P386,000 cheaper.

Meanwhile, the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) for the Suburban 5.3 4x4 used to be P6,238,888; under TRAIN, it now costs P5,338,888 or P900,000 cheaper.

Arcilla also said the tax reforms also made their pick-up trucks cheaper.

"We were surprised that the interpretation of the TRAIN actually gave our pick-up trucks a zero excise [tax]. So, it wasn't something that we were expecting," Arcilla said.

He said that because of the tax reforms, they expect more people to buy pick-up trucks instead of fuel-efficient compact cars.

"Whereas before, smaller cars like Spark had higher volume, we expect pick-ups will be the ones that people will be looking for and will be purchasing," he said.

Chevrolet's compact car Spark 1.4 with manual transmission used to cost P648,888, but after TRAIN now costs P694,888.

Meanwhile, its pick-up truck, the Colorado 2.8 4x4, which used to cost P1,704,888, will now cost P1,571,888.