13 December 2012
All-new Ranger drives Ford's November sales figures through the roof
It's not quite the 1,248 units they achieved back in October, but this one's pretty close... real close. This November 2012, Ford Philippines reported overall retail sales of 1,225 units which is a mere 23 units shy from their best-ever monthly performance last month. That's a huge 46% increase from the same month last year and makes it the blue oval brand's second-best performance in history.
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Industry Update
11 December 2012
Original na Bida: The end is coming... for cheap motorcycle clones
Words by Charlie Cruz | Photos by Christopher Kho
Some claim that the Mayan calendar predicts the world will end on December 21, 2012. Well, perhaps not yet the end for the human race, but for cheap motorcycle knock-offs. In an unprecedented move, the Philippines' top four motorcycle brands, who are usually competing against each other, united to achieve a common goal - an advocacy for motorcycle safety, quality, and originality.
Honda Philippines, Kawasaki Motors Philippines, Suzuki Philippines, and Yamaha Motor Philippines have joined hands for the first time ever in a campaign called “Original na Bida.” They hope to encourage Filipino motorcyclists to use only original Japanese-designed motorcycles and parts, as opposed to cheap clones.
Published in
Industry Update
05 December 2012
New partnership lets Bosch put up 500 Car Service Workshops in ASEAN Caltex Stations
If you noticed, most if not all Caltex Stations in the Philippines (or at least the ones we've seen) don't have their own service station. Well, all that is about to change after its parent company Chevron signed an agreement with Bosch to put up Bosch Car Service Workshops at 500 Caltex Stations in five countries over the next five years.
The project covers the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia, where a Bosch Car Service Workshop will be built alongside each Caltex Station. It will provide premium car care services to multi-brand vehicles including vehicle diagnosis, maintenance, and repairs. On top of that, they'll also be selling Bosch Automotive Aftermarket Products and Parts, as well as Caltex lubricants.
Published in
Industry Update
30 November 2012
Motor Image Pilipinas backs WWF's Earth Hour 2013
Motor Image Pilipinas, the sole distributor of Subaru in the Philippines, has just inked a deal with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to become the exclusive automotive partner of Earth Hour 2013. Launched in 2006, Earth Hour is a worldwide event that encourages people to turn off their lights for just one hour to raise awareness about climate change. What is recognized as the largest voluntary action for the planet, Earth Hour 2013 will switch all lights off on March 23 next year from 8:30 to 9:30PM.
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Industry Update
30 November 2012
The BMW 5 Series is the 37th Consular Corps Ball's chariot of choice
The Consular Corps of the Philippines is an association of consular officers from foreign embassies and missions in the Philippines. In other words, these are the big guns that you need to talk to in case someone you know gets “locked up abroad” amongst other things. And such important dignitaries aren't going to settle for anything less than the best. That's why they've chosen the Asian Carmakers Corporation (ACC), the official importer and distributor of BMW in the Philippines, as the official premium mobility sponsor of the 37th Consular Corps Ball on November 30, 2012.
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Industry Update
28 November 2012
Ford beefs up dealer network with Ford Pampanga and Ford Alabang
What better way to sell more cars and keep more customers happy than to build more dealerships that's not only bigger but also much much better. And that's exactly what Ford Philippines' new business strategy is as they open 12 new world-class dealerships in just under a year. The first of these that's built under what they call “Brand@Retail II” global design standard was Ford Cainta which opened back in October. Now, they're taking two more steps closer to their goal with the groundbreaking of Ford Alabang and opening of Ford Pampanga.
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Industry Update
27 November 2012
Toyota will build rebadged Mazda 2s in Mexico by 2015
Words by Christopher Kho
Though they're both Japanese, Toyota and Mazda shares absolutely nothing in common... until now. The two automakers came together earlier this month to announce a new partnership that will see Mazda Motor Corporation build cars for Toyota USA at their new plant in Mexico.
While Mazda Motor Manufacturing de Mexico is still under construction, it should start production within the year. And when it does, it'll be building Mazda 2s and Mazda 3s at a rate of 140,000 units per year until March of 2014. After that, the production line will then switch over to manufacturing a new sub-compact Toyota that's based on the Mazda 2 starting on the summer of 2015.
Published in
Industry Update
27 November 2012
AVID sales drops by just 1% in October; Keeps 18% growth in 2012
Six out of the 10 members from the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (AVID) has collectively tallied sales of 2,241 motor vehicles in the month of October 2012. That puts them only 1% shy of last year's 2,254. Not bad. Do care to note though that Motor Image Pilipinas, the official distributor of Subaru in the country, wasn't an AVID member yet last year, so you're looking more at an 8% drop technically. However, the group's performance of 24,004 sales total between January to October is still 18% better than the 20,340 sold in the same period last year.
Published in
Industry Update
