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IT was
so austere a ceremony that, at first glance, it didn’t
appear at all to be an event staged by Toyota Motor
Philippines Inc. (TMPI).
You were
expecting the usual pomp and gaiety, the nippy noise and
the frizzy frills usually attendant to such an occasion
hosted by TMPI.
Alas,
there wasn’t even any trace of any of those.
Just
plain place. Bare essentials, almost. Minimalist, if you
will.
No bands
to greet you. No fair-skinned, towering, exotic
ladies-in-gowns to usher you in.
What you
saw was just a tent measuring only maybe six meters by
12 meters, almost barely enough to house an assembly
of—uh, what have we got here?—the chosen ones from both
the high and the mighty.
Cacophony of contrasts
BUT
what’s this, a cacophony of contrasts?
The
occasion’s theme was obvious: The atmosphere was
accented neither by the location of the event nor the
makeup of the venue; rather, by what the occasion had
stood for: “Incisive simplicity,” as what TMPI assistant
vice president Raymond Rodriguez had described it.
The
motif was but basically black and white, with a tinge of
cream. The Lexus signage was in black, sheet and
sidings in white and cream. No other letters inside or
outside the tent except L-E-X-U-S, all emblazoned up the
stage.
Daniel
Isla, first vice president of TMPI, provided the answer
to this new, if not, unusual approach.
‘Contemporary luxury’
“FOR
Lexus, luxury is more than just a statement of wealth,
status or ownership,” he said. “It is a total
experience of achieving one’s needs, wants, desires and
dreams.”
While
the “statement of wealth, status or ownership” is
evident in every Lexus purchase as proven worldwide
since its inception nearly 20 years ago, in the end, it
still amounts to the quality of life that defines one’s
existence in this earth—not by how much one had earned,
or what one had achieved.
This
momentous day, Isla had a one-liner befitting the Lexus
Experience: “Contemporary luxury is about a quality of
life compared to none.”
The
occasion, indeed, was bereft of lavishness usually
accorded an event of gargantuan proportions, such as the
initial unveiling of a world leader, a world-class
engineering automotive technology such as the Lexus.
Yet, the
event paid no heed to impact and drama. The air of
austere atmosphere was the impact itself, the mystery of
the Lexus legend the drama personified.
Hey,
watch it!
FOR,
indeed, however austere and modest the settings may have
been, the single, most momentous meaning of the event
was, hey, watch it!
Here I
come!
Here
comes the Lexus!
Move
over, fellas, Mr. Pursuit of Excellence is here.
At
exactly just minutes past noon of December 14, in a
small patch of land at the Global City in Taguig, the
symbolic groundbreaking ceremony over where the biggest
vehicle dealership in all of Southeast Asia will be
erected had been dramatically shoveled off, marking the
dawning of a new era in the ever-expanding frontiers of
the automotive industry in the country.
“Today
we break ground on a totally new experience in luxury,”
said Alfred V. Ty, the youthful vice chairman of TMPI.
“The arrival of Lexus in the Philippines spans 18
years. Since its introduction in the United States in
1989, Lexus quickly rose from ‘Question Mark’ to
‘Benchmark.’ It became the new standard for automotive
luxury engineering. Within a few years, it became the
best-selling luxury car in the USA, a position it has
kept since then.”
High and
mighty
AMONG
those in attendance were Dr. George S.K. Ty, chairman of
the Metrobank Group of Companies and TMPI; Antonio S.
Abacan, the Metrobank chairman; Jun Ikeda and Masayasu
Nagai of Mitsui; and Yuji Takahashi, Dr. David Go, Kenji
Nakashima, Santos Guerrero, Lyna Garcia, Salvador
Castro, Carmelo Casas, Jose Pedro Recio, Divine San
Agustin and Carlo Ablaza of TMPI.
And who
were from the high and mighty?
Secretary Eduardo Ermita, this Republic’s little
president; Secretary Peter Favila of the Department of
Industry, Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the Department of
Transportation and Communications; and His Excellency
Makoto Katsura, the Japanese ambassador to the
Philippines.
“Toyota
makes the country proud once again by bringing here the
famous Lexus, which is well-respected for its quality
and high-engineering class the world over,” said Ermita.
Rapid
improvement
MAYOR
Freddie Tinga of Taguig, who said he hopes to see Taguig
the country’s “premier city by 2020,” said “the arrival
of Lexus in my land of birth should augur well for the
rapid improvement of Taguig.”
“Lexus,
together with
Toyota,
is committed to be a partner in nation-building,” Ty
said. “Lexus is also committed to spur growth in the
automotive industry by offering the market its new
lineup of luxury vehicles and first-class services.”
The
Lexus Flagship, which is envisioned to open in the
fourth quarter of 2008, is set on a 4,500-square-meter
property. It will be the first locator in the North
Bonifacio development plan. Its new Design Concept of
quality, exclusivity and warmth with the use of natural
materials, is the first in Toyota’s history and the
first in Asia for Lexus; it is entirely different from
Lexus concepts in the US, Japan and even the most
recently launched Lexus dealership in Thailand. The
exterior’s unique architecture is patterned after the
“Dynamic Form” design of the Lexus vehicle, with the
design concept of L-Finesse and contemporary luxury.
The
dealership alone covers 10,500 sq m of floor area spread
over three levels, targeted to be the best-designed
vehicle show room in the country.
11 Lexus
models
LEXUS,
which proudly belongs to the
Toyota
family, has 11 models in its luxury line and is sold in
57 countries worldwide.
In
breaking ground for Lexus, TMPI president Hiroshi Ito
said: “The automotive market in the Philippines has
been on an upward trend and we hope it will continually
grow in the coming years. It is therefore time that we
introduce Lexus to the
Philippines
with a wide range of models.”
Indeed,
the country has had a taste of everything nice and good
about car technology. Lexus, thus, easily becomes a
welcome addition.
As Isla
concluded: “It’s about time that the Lexus experience
be made available to the most discerning of Filipino
customers.” |
