PitBoard: Mazda PH to participate in ASEAN Technical Skills competition

MANILA, Philippines - Berjaya Auto Philippines, the exclusive distributors of Mazda vehicles in the country, recently concluded its search for the Philippine team that will represent the country in the 2015 Mazda Technician Contest or MazTech.

The top two technicians from Mazda Quezon Avenue, Chris B. Sta. Maria and Danny E. Tejada, earned the right to represent Mazda Philippines in the MazTech ASEAN contest slated for the first quarter of 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand.

“After a rigorous process of determining Mazda Philippines’s representatives to MazTech ASEAN, we are proud to have the team from Mazda Quezon Avenue lead the way towards our participation in this regional event,” said Mazda Philippines’s Director of Customer Service, Dave ‘Mac’ Macasadia. He added, “Filipinos have always excelled in the technical and trouble-shooting fields and in this competition, Mazda Philippines will fully support the Philippine team so it can showcase the country’s world-class skills and talent.”

The first Mazda Technician Contest Philippines (MazTechPH) was held last November at the ACE Logistics Warehouse in Calamba, Laguna. Two of the best technicians from each of the eight Mazda Philippines dealer and dealership groups - Mazda Alabang; Mazda Greenhills; Mazda Quezon Avenue; Mazda Cebu; Mazda Pasig-North EDSA; Mazda Cavite-Batangas-Iloilo; Mazda Cagayan De Oro-Davao; and Mazda Dagupan-Cabanatuan-Tarlac-Pampanga participated in actual vehicle diagnosing and trouble-shooting exercises.

After a whole day of testing and deliberation, Mazda Quezon Avenue was declared champion, with Mazda Cebu as first runner-up and Mazda Pasig as second runner-up.

“The results of the first MazTech Philippines are very encouraging,” adds Tan. “The close competition among our dealerships’ representatives is one of our technical training strategy to improve the skills of the Mazda technicians across the dealership network. The competition also highlight areas where we need improvement.”

Berjaya Auto Philippines, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Mazda vehicles and parts in the Philippines. Current product line-up includes Mazda2 subcompact sedan and hatchback, Mazda3 compact sedan and hatchback, Mazda6 executive sedan, CX-5 compact SUV, CX-9 seven-seater SUV, MX-5 2-seater roadster, and the BT-50 pickup. There are 13 Mazda sales and service dealerships located across Metro Manila – Mazda Greenhills along EDSA, Mazda Pasig along C5, Mazda Quezon Ave. Mazda North Edsa and Mazda Alabang – provincial dealerships are located in Pampanga, Dagupan, Cabanatuan, Batangas, Cebu, CDO, Tarlac, Cavite, Davao and Iloilo.

Mitsubishi Motors PH rolls out last car from Cainta plant

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) rolled out the last vehicle—a white Mitsubishi Sdventure—assembled in its Cainta, Rizal plant last December 16, 2014. 

MMPC began assembly operations in Cainta in 1964. In its 50 years of operations in Cainta, more than 500,000 units (581,671 units, to be exact) of various models were assembled. In a simple ceremony to mark the occasion, Hikosaburo Shibata, president and CEO of MMPC, expressed his gratitude to the local government of Cainta and the surrounding communities for the support provided to the company throughout its stay in the municipality. 

Shibata also thanked MMPC’s employees, some of whom are already second generation workers, for being instrumental in MMPC’s achievements for the past 50 years.

This year, MMPC begins a new journey as it moves south to its new home in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. As the Philippines is entering the stage of rapid motorization given the continuous growth and successive record breaking sales annually of the auto industry,  MMPC is now in a position to further enhance its production capacity at the same time support the expected increase in market demand in the coming years with its new assembly plant in Sta. Rosa. 

With this the new assembly plant will continue to provide employment for thousands of MMPC’s workers, contractors and suppliers. More importantly, it is testament to MMPC’s commitment to build world class vehicles for the Filipinos.