Carworld bets dominate 2014 Mitsubishi Skills Olympics

EVERY year MMPC’s major dealerships send in their best people to this annual skills competition. At right, a quiz competition tested participant’s knowledge on everything Mitsubishi.

A NEW addition to this year’s competition is the Service Warranty competition. Charles E. Buban

No one has the luxury of remaining at status quo—if you’re not improving, you’re falling behind. This is perhaps what Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) has known for years as it continues to hold its Mitsubishi Skills Olympics every year.

“MMPC has recognized the need to provide its customers not only with well-built and excellent vehicles but also highly qualified staff who specialize in giving prompt and the best service. We all need to keep our skills fresh. By taking this time to polish existing skills and be refreshed with the latest business knowledge, our staff will be ensuring that MMPC would stay one step ahead, always,” said MMPC president and CEO Hikosaburo Shibata during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Mitsubishi Skills Olympics.

Now on its 17th staging (last year’s event was postponed due to Supertyphoon “Yolanda”), last Saturday’s 2014 Mitsubishi Skills Olympics was participated in by 24 major dealerships or more than 200 participants.

The whole-day competition was divided into six categories (Fuso Hotshots, sales hotshots, parts specialist, service adviser, service technician and warranty officer), with the dealership with the most number of winning participants declared as the overall champion.

“Apart from the usual written exams as well as actual demonstration of skills, we added this year the category Service Warranty competition wherein the contestant will be engaged in a sort of conversation with a ‘customer’ regarding warranty issues,” explained event chair Gideon Bruno.

At the end of the day, Carworld Inc. was declared overall champion. Other winners this year: CTI-Las Piñas’ Maynard Mamalayan (Fuso Hotshots); Carworld Inc.’s Allison Nina Bayran (sales hotshots); Caleb Motor Corp.’s Jeffrey Sapinoso (parts specialist); CTI-Las Piñas’ Karen Joy Labuca (service adviser); DCT Holdings & Services Inc.’s Bonifacio L. Alejandro (service technician); Diamond Motor Corp.’s Aubrey Punzalan (warranty officer).

“In today’s business environment, a company can’t survive on a strong brand alone; success is built on the ability to deliver value for your customers. This can only be done by keeping highly trained and professional staff, a reason why we value this skills Olympics,” said Shibata.

Shibata added that  car buyers these days want  more than a brand name. “They want to know they are dealing with one that is going to continually strive to improve.”