IN the Philippines, where selling cars is a highly competitive field, a car dealer or an auto manufacturer needs to invest in marketing, advertising and, more importantly, hiring aggressive, enthusiastic and ambitious employees as well as sales executives. Contrary to common belief, however, one doesn’t need to be crazy about cars or have a mechanical background to be in the car business. Proof of this is a guy who is dashing, charming and yet so humble. He is none other than Autohub’s debonair bachelor-cum-president Willy Tee Ten—one of the most successful automotive tycoons in the country today.
Tee Ten studied in De La Salle University, where he excelled in mathematics and earned a degree in chemical engineering. After graduating in 1984, Tee Ten worked in his grandfather’s booming alcohol business, where he developed an impeccable work ethic and manifested his business savvy in dealing with bigwigs in the industry. “During that time, I had no inkling that I was going to be in the automotive field,” said Tee Ten. “In fact, I didn’t even own a car, much less had an interest in them when I was a student and it was only several years after graduation when I finally did.”
That all changed, however, when a close friend asked Tee Ten to open a car dealership in 1999. “I was out of town when I got his call. He said that I needed to decide immediately because we needed to submit a bid. I saw it as a challenge and I thought to myself, ‘If they [our rivals] can do it, then I can do it, too,’” Tee Ten recalled. Despite being the youngest and inexperienced among the bidders, Tee Ten was awarded the dealership and, soon thereafter, Ford Makati opened along Pasong Tamo Extension.
Success was followed by even more success as Tee Ten opened Ford Davao in 2000 and Ford Cagayan de Oro in 2003. In rapid succession, Tee Ten established Ford Manila, Nissan Gallery in Ortigas, Nissan Quezon Avenue, Nissan Cagayan de Oro and Ford Global City in 2004. Klassik BMW Ortigas, Hyundai Global City and a venture in the JMC truck brand followed in 2005. With all the dealerships growing so steadily, Tee Ten and his partners decided to create an umbrella organization to oversee their operations, thus, the Autohub Group was born.
Last year, Autohub entered into a synergy with Garden Barn Inc. (GBI) to set up MotoItalia Philippines Inc.—the authorized Philippine importer and distributor of world-famous lines of Italian scooters, namely, Piaggio, Vespa and Gilera—located along Ortigas Avenue in North Greenhills, San Juan. In 2010, the Autohub Group made waves in the automotive industry when it was awarded the Philippine distributorship of the iconic Mini Cooper.
Aside from vehicle sales, the Autohub Group also has companies involved in body painting, detailing, car rental and leasing such as Autozone Servitek, Autohub Car Care Services (ACCS), Autohub certified pre-owned, Gates LPG Kits and Click. Autohub has even engaged in pioneering innovations such as a 24/7 on-call towing service for its customers—the only one of its kind in the Philippines, as well as zero-percent participation in insurance and five-year extended warranty on its vehicles. “One advantage that Autohub Group has over other car dealers is that we let our technicians stay here in our facilities. They have free accommodations with breakfast so they are not tired, late and stressed out,” Tee Ten said.
The growth of the brands under Autohub has been exceptional, to say the least, and this is why the company is now one of the major players in the automotive industry. According to Tee Ten, the Ford Everest, Expedition and Escape units are selling very well and the Hyundai cars are phenomenal. The Nissan Urvan is also doing very well and the Minis are simply sensational. “Our initial sales target for the Mini was 130 units by the year’s end, but we’ve already reached it this August, so we increased our order to 200 units. Now, I’m excited about bringing the Countryman Mini SUV to the Philippines right after the UK launches it in February 2011,” Tee Ten shared.
When asked what his favorite car was among the vehicles that he has sold, Tee Ten said that he liked all of them but admits that the Ford brand is the closest to his heart as it was the first dealership he opened.
During this interview, this writer noticed that the self-effacing and down-to-earth Tee Ten never bragged about his accomplishments although he had every reason to. In the past nine consecutive years since the company’s inception, Ford Global City has been named as the Dealer of the Year by Ford Philippines, consistently ranking in the top number of car sales among Ford dealers nationwide. Hardly surprising, Tee Ten credits Autohub’s success to his colleagues in the company.
The way that Tee Ten deals with his people is evident in the way they talk about him.
“Willy trusts us and he gives us room for growth. He makes our job fun and he gives us a chance to improve ourselves,” said Autohub’s AVP for marketing and corporate communications Michelle Peralta. “Willy is a cool boss and everyone shines here,” added Peralta, who came from a hotel management career. “He is such an inspiration because he is so humble. He levels with everyone. He is enthusiastic but he talks from the heart,” Peralta intimated.
One of the goals of Tee Ten, who believes that one of the keys to success of a company is its employees, is to hire a total of 1,000 people for the Autohub Group. As such, it is currently looking for individuals who are willing to learn, enthusiastic, positive, resourceful and, most importantly—happy. “At Autohub, our employees are like family and if they want to have good financial stability and security of tenure, they can have it here, where we offer world-class training; transportation and communications allowance; incentives and commissions,” Peralta said.
Call 860-8880 or log on to www.autohubgroup.com for more information.
In Photo: Cool boss Willy Tee Ten (right) does a knuckle pump with Autohub’s AVP for marketing and corporate communications, Michelle Peralta. Autohub Group
