New faces, new phases in the PH auto industry

AS THE automotive industry looks to another banner year, its key executives are thrust to the limelight. It’s not just a battle for the best vehicles; in this fiercely competitive landscape, it’s a race to prove who’s the better chief executive.

Motioncars-Inquirer Motoring tackles the auto industry’s executive merry-go-round for the first half of 2015.

New boss, new home

INCOMING Mitsubishi PH president Yoshiaki Kato (left) and Shibata raise a glass during the recent Pajero preview at Fairmont Hotel.

In April, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) announced the appointment of Yoshiaki Kato as its new president and chief executive officer.

He succeeds Hikosaburo Shibata who led MMPC for exactly four years since 2011. During his term, MMPC achieved record breaking sales and continued its sales growth, modestly improving the market share despite growing competition in the increasingly competitive automotive industry.

Last year, MMPC realized another banner year, registering an all-time high sales figure of 50,085 units.

Kato will have to measure up to what his predecesor achieved. Kato has held various positions in several companies such as Mitsubishi Motors Aus tralia Ltd., Mitsubishi Fuso Trucks and Bus Australia Pty. Ltd., and was eventually promoted as general manager of Europe Department of Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

He was recently assigned as EVP for Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Co. Ltd. for its Corporate Global Unit. His post comes at a time where MMPC’s path to growth is at a new crossroad.

With a much bigger plant in Sta. Rosa, parent firm Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has plans to further expand the business in the country.

D to the Max

CHANGING of the guard at IPC

Last April also, Isuzu Philippines Corp. (IPC) officially introduced its new company president during a formal turnover ceremony at the Solaire Resorts Hotel in Pasay City.

Hajime Koso replaced Nobuo Izumina as the new IPC president. Izumina went on to be the director of Isuzu Body Corp., an affiliate of Isuzu Motors Ltd. (IML) in homeland Japan.

Before bidding sayonara at the turnover ceremony, IPC executives held a touching video tribute from the motoring industry’s veteran journalists for Izumina-san who only has fond memories of his stint in the Philippines.

The new 57-year-old IPC president Hajime Hoso has been with Isuzu for 35 years in various positions in sales and operations.

His previous post before transfering to the Philippines was as president of Isuzu Motors Kyusyu Ltd.

He joined Isuzu’s Domestic Sales Department in 1980, and by 1999, had become Isuzu Motors America’s VP for logistics and export before moving on to several key positions in the Asean markets.

“The Philippine automotive industry is slowly setting up its pace. In the past two years, the country’s record for automotive sales has seen a significant growth which is probably due to the overall growth of the economy,” said Koso.

“My previous assignment in Indonesia made me aware of the Asean market. The Philippines will be a challenging task, but I think it will be worthwhile,” Koso added.

With a record sales of 14,000 units in the Philippine market last year, Koso has a big task ahead of him. But with the all-new D-Max and mu-X model lineup, and a buoyant automotive market, this could be very well another banner year for Isuzu.

Aston as you love me

Since the DB5 appeared in the 1964 James Bond movie “Goldfinger,” Aston Martin has been the Bond car of choice.

Although Aston Martin hasn’t been officially launched in the Philippine market, the word’s out on who’s going to run the new dealership of Bond’s ride.

On the local front, the Aston Martin dealership will be jointly owned by the Tagle family led by Bridgestone Philippines distributor CEO Marc Tagle and the Soong family led by Wellington Soong, who are also distributors for Jaguar, Land Rover, Ferrari and Maserati.

Just like the handpicked exotic interior finishes of Aston Martin cars, the owners were able to handpick automotive maverick Nicky Mariano as the brand’s managing director.

Mariano used to run the Subaru Philippines distribution under Motor Image Pilipinas, and more recently, the Tata Motors distributorship.

The Aston Martin showroom will be housed at the W Building located at the corner of 5th Avenue and 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City.

With an annual production of about 4,000 units, allocation would be scarce, but collectors are hopeful that finally their appetite for bespoke English sheet metal will be satisfied.

French connection

GLEN DASIG

Another industry veteran Glen Dasig recently and quietly took the leadership post of running the only French car brand in the country.

Felix Mabilog turned over the reins of the Peugeot’s distributorship Eurobrands Distributor, Inc. (EDI) as president as he was elevated to the position of vice chairman of the board of the Columbian Group of Companies. EDI is part of the Columbian Group of Companies owned by Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez, which also owns BMW PH distributor Asian Carmakers Corporation (ACC) and Columbian Autocar Corporation (KIA Philippines).

Dasig was BMW Philippines-ACC’s executive director, and prior to that he was the managing director for Mazda Philippines under the Ford Group Philippines. Aside from holding several key positions in sales and marketing in Ford Group Philippines, he also was expatriated to Ford Thailand as its Finance Controller and Strategy Manager.

This is Peugeot’s second attempt to penetrate the German-dominated premium European automotive market. Peugeot was being distributed by another group until it made a French exit around 2006.

Under the Felix Mabilog’s leadership and pioneering efforts, Peugeot was able to strategically expand its network to 10 dealerships in just two years, a feat not even its other European brand rivals can claim. With Dasig’s wealth of experience in selling German marque BMW, the expectations of Peugeot remain high. With the introduction like the new 2008 models this year, things are looking up for this boutique European car brand.

CATS out of the bag

RENE Nuñez, CATS Motors president, with the CLA-Class, part of Mercedes-Benz’s New Generation Compact Cars lineup

Car aficionado and gaming entrepreneur Rene Nuñez took over the post of Felix Ang as president last May after Ang became the company’s chair of the board.

CATS Motors was the exclusive distributor of Mercedes-Benz and American auto brands Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram until 2014, when the management formed Auto Nation Group Inc. (ANG Inc.) as a separate company to be the sole importer and distributor for the said German and American marques.

The spin off was made as a directive from Daimler Germany, makers of Mercedes-Benz, to distinguish the functions of an importer/distributor and its retail functions as a showroom dealer.

From hereon, CATS Motors would now be focusing on the retail aspect of the business, including aftersales service, while ANG, Inc. would function as the distributor in the Philippine market, which would also supply and service the other two dealerships not owned by Felix Ang.

CATS, whose acronym stands for Car Accessories, Tires and Servicenter, was started as an aftermarket importer/retailer and a full service center in 1989 by Felix Ang.

He talked about how he was first introduced to the tri-star brand when he was a kid sitting in his uncle’s Mercedes-Benz.

After receiving a new 1991 Mitsubishi Lancer from his parents as a gift for landing his first job, he opted to exchange this for a 15-year-old two-door Mercedes-Benz 280CE just months after.

Before taking on his new assignment, Nuñez was a successful entrepreneur in the gaming industry.

He has several current Mercedes-Benz models and highly collectible classics he had acquired over the years.

Ang couldn’t have picked a better man to replace him. Even if he was part of the lucrative gaming business, his passion towards automobiles made him decide to shift to the automotive industry.

Aside from his business acumen in running highly competitive and service-oriented businesses, he has extensive technical and hands-on experience in dealing with classic as well as current European cars. Nuñez still holds a number of directorship positions in several companies engaged in the real estate, gaming and food industry.

Aftermarket vet deputized

Mike Luyun, top boss and general manager of Motor Image Pilipinas (MIP), distributor for Subaru vehicles in the country, has his hands full as he juggles his time running the Subaru distributorship and flies around Asean fulfilling his regional responsibilities for parent company Motor Image’s head office in Singapore.

Earlier this year, Luyun said that they had been scouting for someone to help him run MIP since its sales and operations have been steadily growing.

During a presscon held last July 14 at Raffles Hotel to announce Subaru’s partnership with RunRio.com, Bob Palanca met the media and introduced himself as MIP’s deputy general manager.

Palanca started his career in the auto industry at Honda Cars Makati in 1994 and rose from the ranks to become the company’s general sales manager.

In 2004, he joined aftermarket accessories distributor/importer Winterpine Group concentrating on the company’s wholesale importation and car dealership retail operations as AVP for retail business unit.

He also had a short one-year stint in Volkswagen Philippines as VP in charge of VWQA before accepting his current post.

Volks populi, Volks day

Franz Decloedt joined Volkswagen in June as its new marketing director. Prior to this post, he had a seven-year stint with Coca-Cola, occupying various positions in marketing as brand and marketing manager, and previous to that, another seven years in Unilever.

He started his career in marketing in 1998 with Universal Robina but had always yearned for a career in the automotive industry.

“I have been in marketing for the past 18 years, and I have worked on fast-moving consumer brands like Sunsilk, Rexona, and Coca-Cola. I’ve learned how to make brands loved by millions of Filipinos. Together with marketing, my other great passion is the automobile. Thanks to my dad, I’ve loved cars since I was just in diapers. My dad would place me on his lap while sitting in the driver’s seat and pretending to drive. We had a 1977 Volkswagen Passat, and that is the car where I learned to drive stick. I really loved that car,” he said.