Chery Motors Philippines is streamlining its dealership network in Metro Manila starting with the opening of the Chery Taft-Manila showroom located in Taft Avenue near the corner of Quirino Avenue.
The dealership currently has a showroom floor of 200sqm. A service area, scheduled to open by the first quarter of 2012, can accommodate up to eight units with an area of 400sqm. While the area may be small, Chery Motors Philippines sales and marketing manager Raymond Tribdino said it falls in line with the company's new plans for its dealers.
"We've realized that having a huge dealership isn't right for a car company like Chery. It's too expensive to operate, you need a lot of people to run it and besides, our product line-up is small so we don't need a lot of space," said Tribdino. "By starting this small, we can slowly build up our dealership's sales and operations."
Chery Motors Philippines will also assist the dealership for the first three months by fielding its own team before turning over the entire operation to the dealership itself. According to Tribdino, this helps train the dealership's own personnel on how to run everything from the ground up instead of just letting them fend for themselves when the very first customer walks through the front door.
"This way, you're not just putting the personnel out there raw," said Tribdino. "We show them how to run everything first and once they've gotten the hang of it, that's when finally turn over everything to them."
According to Chery-Taft Manila president Virgilio Yupangco, the dealership location is ideal, sales- and operations-wise.
"The area is teeming with old-rich Chinese families, who are always on the lookout for a good bargain. There are also lots of overseas employment agencies which means seamen and OFWs who might want to buy a new yet affordable car for their families," said Yupangco. "The service area's location is just behind the showroom along Leon Guinto so the operations of both the showroom and the service area won't be hampered by traffic."
Chery Motors Philippines president and chief executive Si-Chung Chang welcomed his company's partnership with Yupangco who, incidentally, used to be the dealer network manager of Iseway Motors Philippines, the company that used to distribute Chery in the country.
"This partnership proves the continuing confidence in Chery as an emerging automotive brand," said Chang. "Our direction is clear--revive the dealer channels and strengthen the current network--in order to go about slowly rebuilding the brand in the country."
