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IF we
heed Wellington C. Soong, the following are his code
words of success insofar as selling a luxury vehicle is
concerned.
“It’s in
the human spirit that we have the passion for speed and
luxury,” he said. “Whatever happens, we love to own
vehicles that are luxuriously elegant, have speed and
class.”
It’s
hard to dispute that, especially at this time when
Willy—as Soong’s dearest friends call him—has just
recently launched his Jaguar XF, coming on the heels of
what he said was “an amazing feat of selling six units
of the Jaguar XF immediately, even before the formal
global launch of the unit in late March.”
There
will always be poor and there will always be rich.
The poor
are now struggling to put rice on the table. The rich
are now aching to stuff their garage with another luxury
vehicle.
Rice and
luxury; they are virtually one and the same.
Rice
will always be a luxury to the poor. Jaguar will always
be a luxury to the rich.
But
there’s one distinct difference, though.
It will
never matter to the poor whether their rice is of the
milagrosa variety or not, for as long as it can fill the
tummy to the brim.
To the
rich, though, a car’s make, a vehicle’s brand name, is
of major consequence.
“When
choices are available, buyers usually go for the pricier
variant,” said Willy.
That’s
obvious. The rich have money to spare and the poor
barely enough to make both ends meet.
Willy’s
latest Jaguar comes in three variants—the entry-level,
3.0-liter V6 (P4.9 million), the 4.2-liter V8 (P5.8
million) and the Supercharged V8 (P8.2 million).
To be
sure, they’re not for the middle-class, not excluding
the slightly above middle-class. These segments would
rather that they use the money to build their dream
house—or buy yet another piece of land if they already
own one. To them, investment comes first. And a Jaguar
is no investment but a piece of land is.
Marc
Soong, Willy’s son who is the Jaguar Cars executive
director in the Philippines, has said that advance
orders for the four-door XF have now reached 7,000 units
worldwide.
Said
Marc: “Locally, we have been receiving a lot of
inquiries from potential buyers eagerly anticipating
getting their hands on the all-new XF.”
The new
Jaguar, replacing the long-running Birmingham-built
S-Type after nine years in the market and designed and
developed at Jaguar’s product development center at
Whitley in
Coventry, United Kingdom,
is described as “fusing sportscar styling and
performance with the refinement, features and space of a
luxury saloon.”
Willy,
the chairman and president of Jaguar Cars Inc., said
he’s never worried with his latest Jaguar babe being
“pricey,” noting that the Philippines has emerged one of
the best-performing markets in the Asia-Pacific.
He said
the country placed fifth in terms of absolute sales
volume after Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and
Malaysia—way ahead of Indonesia, India and China.
I have
yet to drive a Jaguar myself but I don’t mind. I have
no intention of driving one until I win the lotto in
America, as simply thinking about its price tag alone
would make me nervous just sitting behind its wheel.
Anyways,
all the best, Willy. Knowing you, I know you won’t
disappoint.
****
RICK
NEWMAN of the US News & World Report wrote: “People who
own emerald green automobiles…have the most positive
attitude about the course of their own lives.”
Dark
blue and silver are other colors chosen by upbeat
people, while red supposedly connotes an aggressive,
high-speed personality. Yellow, theoretically, is for
folks with sunny dispositions.
But in a
survey, data show that people who drive red or yellow
cars have below-average confidence. And black cars,
supposedly a sign of power and elegance, are driven by
the most downbeat drivers of all.
Summing
it up, quoting the CNW Marketing Research in Bandon,
Oregon, USA, Newman wrote: “Black, dark blue or
silver=Consistent moods. White, sunny yellow, or bright
blue=Modest mood swings. Orange, red, bright yellow, or
emerald green=The most pronounced mood swings.”
****
Pee stop
Belated
happy birthday to She de los Santos of Honda Cars
Philippines on May 25. Sadly, though, She fell victim
to a holdup three days before her birthday. Stolen from
She while she was onboard a passenger jeepney in Sucat,
Parañaque, were her cell phone and laptop, among the
valuables she had with her that fateful night. Because
of spiraling fuel prices, She decided to go car-less
that day. Indeed, accidents happen at the most
unexpected moments. The holdup happened only about 150
meters from where She lives. |
