Economy, new models seen to boost BMW sales

THE Philippines’ positive economic outlook has fueled sales for luxury car brands in the country particularly BMW.

“This year we are looking at more growth in terms of the number of units we sell. We are very positive we can surpass the number last year,” said Glen Dasig, Asian Carmakers Corporation (ACC) executive director for sales and marketing.

ACC is the country’s official importer and distributor of BMW, a German automaker brand.

A total of 792 BMW automobile units were sold last year, a 19 percent increase of the sales in 2010.

Dasig said they were expecting more Filipinos to buy cars after economists and President Benigno Aquino III projected a 5 percent to 6 percent growth of the GDP (gross domestic product) by the end of the year.

Dasig said ACC would open its seventh dealership in Bacolod today and their eighth dealership in Manila by January next year.

He said this would make ACC the biggest in terms of the number of dealers among other luxury cars brands in the country today.

The car dealer also aims to increase sales with the introduction of the new BMW 6 series early this year.

“Since January, we already sold about 400 cars. We expect this to shoot up with the introduction of our all new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe cars,” said Dasig.

The 6 series Gran Coupe is a four-door model of this line of high-end automobiles, which are usually the two-door models.

The recently launched the all new BMW 3 Series is part of the firm’s aggressive expansion in the country.

The 3 series is a line of compact executive cars.

The firm is also banking on its other models to generate more sales such as its BMW 1 series, which is its line of small family cars.

In Cebu, Autowelt BMW sells 8 to 10 car units every month and with their new partners Autowelt, Inc., who took over last year, is ACC’s Cebu dealer for the luxury automobile brand.

Dasig said they would be expecting Cebu to be among their best performing dealership in the country this year.

“Cebu’s market is very vibrant. In the past a lot of our customers from here buy from Manila. Now we are banking on the strong network of the Goho (family). They were able to convince Cebu clients to buy from here,” said Dasig.

The Autowelt Inc. is located in Nivel Hills, Lahug, Cebu City and has underwent some renovations to reflect the global standards of the brand.

According to Autowelt, Inc. chief executive officer Michael Ryan Goho they invested over P10 million for the renovations to make the showroom at par with other showrooms in the world.

They also have an expanded area for training, a conference room and a lifestyle area where they will be displaying BMW motorcycles, bicycles and other premium items.

According to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), BMW is currently the market leader, and has been for the last nine years, with a market share of 30 percent.