The all time soar in the country’s inflation may have burdened different stakeholders in Cebu’s business sector but a major player in the local auto industry remains bullish as it continues to reap high sales in their operation.
“We are hitting our monthly targets for Cebu and Mazda cars are starting to be visible on the streets which show the result of our efforts to intensify our operations in the area and penetrate the Cebu market,” Mazda Cebu dealership’s sales manager Michael P. Bandalan told The Freeman in an interview.
On a monthly basis, Bandalan said that Mazda Cebu sells an average of 20 units generating a significant 30 percent growth rate.
He said that despite the previous hike in oil prices, the local auto sector still managed to reap growth in the last semester.
“We did not expect to sell better in the past months especially that the gasoline prices before were soaring all time record high,” he added.
With the current economic crunch, Mazda has created a marketing strategy that is designed to reach a wider segment of the market.
Although Bandalan stressed that their client base is unaffected by the economic crunch felt by a majority of the market, and so maintaining their sales, Mazda has seen the need to reach out to a wider market segment to strengthen its position in the auto industry.
Right now Mazda Cebu is offering P70, 000 down payments for every purchase of any Mazda 3 1.6L models which automatically covers chattel, insurance and three years LTO registration as well as free services, parts and accessories.
Mazda 3 models’ prices range from P839, 000 to P2. 630 million.
Bandalan explained that this new scheme provides car buyers with full subsidy as they only get to pay around P17, 649 for 60 months of installment basis.
“We have started this scheme last month and since then it has started to shake the car industry here in Cebu because no other dealership has offered this affordable rate,” he said.
Bandalan explained that they were able to provide this kind of subsidy through utilizing their monthly allocations for their marketing and promotion efforts.
“Instead of using the budget for lavish advertisements, we tried to cut it down and use it to subsidize our car buyers which we believe is more effective because now this move has made Mazda cars more visible on the streets,” he explained.
Bandalan is optimistic that with this promotional scheme they will achieve their growth target for this year.
Right now, Mazda ranks second in the 1.6 liter sedan variants here in Central Visayas, said Bandalan noting Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) industry sales reports.
Their showroom in North Reclamation noted a 90 percent buying rate as most of its customer traffic end up buying new Mazda units.
“Mazda is very different from other cars because our car buyers feel good about owning their own Mazda unit especially that right now there is no Mazda taxi units in the street and with its sleek designs and sophisticated look, Mazda cars usually turn heads when driven out on streets,” said Bandalan.
Mazda Cebu dealership is the first dealership outside of Luzon and it was just opened last February of this year.
Currently Mazda has five dealerships in the country and four of which are in Metro Manila located in Greenhills, Quezon Avenue, Alabang, and Makati.