If running a business is like riding a motorbike, then Ramon S. Ang (RSA) must be going full-throttle right now. Mixing business expertise and passion for cars and bikes is really doing wonders for him, particularly when it comes to steering BMW Philippines through San Miguel Corporation Asia Car Distributors Corporation (SMCACDC), which he owns.
Effective December 1, 2018, RSA officially took over the Autohaus BMW dealership in Libis, Quezon City, including all its facilities: showroom, service center, 2,000sqm open parking area, and the adjacent BMW Premium Selection building. According to industry sources, it has officially been renamed RSA Motors Corporation (RMC).
In the previous setup, BMW Motorrad Philippines used to ‘squat’ in a very small section of the Autohaus showroom. That limited space housed the static display of new models as well a cramped service area. With the phenomenal 70% increase in sales of BMW motorbikes locally, however, things are now looking up for the Motorrad division.
This month, construction begins for the complete redesign of the old Autohaus facility’s two main buildings. This also paves the way for the establishment of a standalone BMW Motorrad facility on a 760sqm floor area formerly occupied by preowned vehicles. Sources added that even the service facilities will be completely replaced—including the multimillion-peso pneumatic vehicle lifts, to allow the servicing of heavy-armored BMW cars and SUVs.
RMC officials are hoping that the new, world-class BMW Motorrad showroom will be operational by March or April 2019.
While all this is unfolding, construction work continues in the main BMW Philippines showroom at the corner of Connecticut and Florida Streets in Greenhills, San Juan (near the EDSA-Petron Station). This new BMW facility will be the second of its kind in the whole world, with the first constructed in one of the megacities in Russia a few years back, sources added. Ang wants the BMW’s corporate identity to be fully embedded in every dealership. The target opening of the grand BMW Greenhills showroom is
Now, who heads RMC?
Well, sources claimed that Maricar Cristobal Parco was named RMC president for retail operations. She will take charge of the three upcoming BMW facilities in Libis and Greenhills. Parco was the former president of Asian Carmakers Corporation, which was previously owned by Palawan governor Jose ‘Pepito’ Alvarez. When the SMCACDC took over BMW Philippines alongside the appointment of Adrian Spencer Yu as its new president, Alvarez eventually became a minority shareholder of the company.
Gil Balderas stays as director of BMW Motorrad Philippines.
