Motor Image introduces new XV variant, announces Season 3 of Cesar Millan’s TV series

Subaru XV GT designer Mashiko Kobayashi and Motor Image CEO Glenn Tan

Last week, Motor Image Group invited Inquirer Motoring to an exclusive interview with TV celebrity and New York Times bestselling author Cesar Millan, also known as the Dog Whisperer, on location shoot in Singapore for Season 3 of its soon to be released reality TV and Asia’s biggest dog trainer competition, Cesar’s Recruit: Asia presented by Subaru.

The search is on again for the region’s best dog trainer.

Last season, Eric Ko, a celebrity dog trainer based in Hong Kong was the big winner, slightly edging over Lestre Zapanta of the Philippines.

Zapanta, also known as the Pinoy Dog Whisperer, has been featured on TV and radio shows, and has over 200,000 online followers.

This Season 3 will feature eight participants from Singapore, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand who have made the cut to compete for the prize of becoming Cesar’s next Asian Recruit.

The filming of this season is currently taking place in Singapore as Millan wanted to leverage the show as part of his global mission to prevent dog abandonment, and in helping dog owners achieve harmony with their pets and surrounding people and fellow dogs.

Motor Image said that the first episode of the seven-part series is expected to air in June 2019 on Subaru Asia’s YouTube channel. Other network channels will be announced at a later date.

“I’m excited to partner Subaru once again to bring Cesar’s Recruit back to Asia. The latest season will feature contestants from diverse backgrounds presented with real-life challenges that most dog owners today face. With more people in Asia owning dogs than before, it is crucial that we continue to educate people on the importance of animal welfare, and the role humans play in that,” said Cesar Millan.

“This is why in the show, we’ll be placing a bigger emphasis on the foundational qualities of building a healthy and balanced dog-owner relationship, over the technical aspects of dog training,” he added.

Unlike past seasons, the focus for Cesar’s Recruit: Asia Season 3 focuses on the trainer, not the dog.

This season will see fresh challenges aimed at equipping contestants with the essential traits required of a dog behavioral expert, including physical fitness, assertiveness, trust, patience, confidence and love.

The winner of Season 3 will also bear the title of Subaru Ambassador, where he/she will get the chance of a lifetime to tour with Cesar in his live shows across Asia.

“Subaru is a family-oriented brand closely associated with active lifestyles and the outdoors, and Cesar’s Recruit: Asia hits all the right notes for me. Cesar is an individual I respect, because more than his talent, he is extremely hardworking, driven, and most of all, positive and inspiring. I connected immediately with his passion,” said Glenn Tan, deputy chairman and managing director of Tan Chong International Limited (TCIL).

Cesar Millan and a long-haired German shepherd owned by the Tan family

He added, “In all the shows we work with, I want to give aspiring talented Asians a chance to push themselves to the limit, believe in themselves, and follow their heart.”

Motor Image is a fully-owned subsidiary of TCIL, and distributes Subaru vehicles in Asia. The Subaru sales and distribution network operates in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Tan went on to explain that Subaru owners have a penchant for good music and food, and majority are also pet owners.

That is why the Subaru brand in Asia is actively involved in collaborating with TV shows with Cesar Millan, and there are plans to produce an Asian food-inspired TV show with a local celebrity chef in Asian markets that Motor Image is present.

Subaru and Motor Image presented Michael Bolton on a concert tour in 2017 dubbed as the Asian Dream Tour, which was held in five countries including the Philippines.

The event was also an opportune time to meet with former Subaru designer, and now independent automotive designer Mashiko “Jack” Kobayashi, who was also present to show the prototype model of the upcoming Subaru XV GT variant.

Kobayashi was the designer of the first generation XV, Levorg, and first generation Outback.

A graduate of the famous school of automotive design, the Art Center in Pasadena, he was with Subaru for 25 years and became an independent consultant last year.

He also designed the XV GT variant, which will be unveiled next month at the Manila International Auto Show (Mias) at the World Trade Center.

The top-of-the-line XV GT variant comes with a very stylish and dynamic bodykit, specialized leather interior trim, sideview mirror camera system, and alloy wheels.

More of the XV GT in future issues from this section.