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SUBIC
BAY FREE PORT — After becoming known cheap, second-hand
imported cars sold at auction yards, Subic may yet earn
new popularity for inexpensive yet brand-new automobiles
that will be distributed here by a reputable
manufacturer.
Geely
Philippines, an upstart auto company seeking a foothold
in the mainstream market, said it will import through
the Subic Bay Free Port Chinese-made cars for sale to
Filipino mid-level income families.
The tag
price? P387,000 for the 1.1-liter Geely MR hatchback,
and P489,999 for the 1.3-liter Geely CK sedan.
Geely
Philippines president Joycelin Torres-Rodriguez said in
a recent product launch here that some 2,000 units of
Geely hatchback and sedan models will initially be
shipped through Subic for dealers and customers in Metro
Manila, Pampanga, Bulacan and Dagupan City in Pangasinan.
The
company plans to eventually establish 12 dealerships in
the country, with the main showroom to be located in
Quezon City.
“Our
distribution office, however, will be here in the Subic
Bay area, particularly in Olongapo City,” Rodriguez
said, pointing out the convenience of unloading imports
at Subic’s newly completed container terminal, and “easy
communications and negotiations” due to Subic’s
free-port status.
Geely
Philippines, Rodriguez added, is also planning to set up
an assembly plant in the
Subic free port for semiknocked-down units to take advantage of
the incentives offered by the Subic Bay Metropolitan
Authority (SBMA) to business locators.
The
Geely cars are manufactured by the Geely Group, the
fifth-largest automobile maker in
China and the biggest among the nongovernment auto
manufacturers, said Albert Wu, director of Pan Fil Inter
Trade Co. Inc., which is the exclusive Philippine
distributor of Geely automobiles.
Wu said
that Geely also manufactures its own engines, with the
Solano engine design bought from Toyota to ensure
product quality.
Around
80 percent of the cars produced by the firm are said to
be exported to foreign markets in
Russia,
Venezuela, Peru, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia
and South Africa.
As to
customer acceptability, Wu said that a Geely model will
soon be used as taxicabs in
London,
where taxis are known to be luxurious.
In
April, the Geely CK sedan will be launched in the United
States, marking the entry of the first Chinese-made car
to ever pass US standards, Wu added.
In the
Philippines, the Geely cars are being positioned as an
alternative family car for the B-C-D income brackets,
which reportedly comprise 75 percent of the firm’s
potential car buyer market.
“We are
not here to compete [with the bigger players in the
industry],” Rodriguez explained. “We are here to provide
Filipinos with more choices, and we want to provide cars
for those who cannot afford them right now.”
“The
reason why there is a big discrepancy between car sales
compared to our huge population,” Rodriguez explained
further, “is that there is no quality car available at
prices affordable to families in the middle class.”
Predictably, this is where Geely comes in, Rodriguez
said. “We are introducing a product of good quality,
which is around 30 percent lower than the lowest priced
one in the market today.”
In the
Philippines, the firm will initially offer only
hatchback and sedan models, although Wu said they will
soon be bringing in the two-door, five-seater Geely
coupe—destined to be the most affordable sports car in
the country at only P800,000.
Wu added
that whatever model there is, all basic Geely cars come
with power windows, power side mirror, power lock and
keyless entry—features that, Rodriguez said, would
redefine the standards of luxury for Filipino buyers.
Yet, Wu
said that Geely cars are also fuel-efficient despite
their all-power features. The 1100-cc MR hatchback could
be expected to run 22 kms per liter on highways, and 20
kms in city streets. The 1300-cc CK sedan, on the other
hand, goes up to 20 kms on highways and 18 kms at normal
city driving.
Rodriguez said the Geely car’s main attraction, however,
would be its low tag price and the financing schemes
that the company had concocted to further rein in more
mid-income buyers.
With a
five-year installment plan, a buyer would have to shell
out only a deposit of 20 percent, or around P77,000,
then cough up P7,000 monthly for the hatchback and
P9,000 for the sedan model.
The
financing scheme is supported by lending institutions
like PS Bank, which has an auto loan program, and
Pacific Ace Group of Companies, which has a branch in
Subic.
“This is
really attractive to mid-income earners, because people
would normally have to spend P250,000 for a second-hand
vehicle. And, they would have to buy it in cash,”
Rodriguez said.
“What we
are giving them is the chance to own a brand-new car at
terms that won’t hurt their pockets.”
Rodriguez added that Geely Philippines has also offered
the SBMA and its subsidiary, the Freeport Service Corp.,
a bank financing tie-up to benefit SBMA employees and
other free port workers.
“I think
the SBMA will go for it, because the cars will be
entering the country through Subic Bay anyway,” she
said. |
