Subaru, Audi and Mitsubishi reported their best sales performances during the first four months of the year. Motor Image Pilipinas Inc. (Mipi), the exclusive distributor of Subaru brand of vehicles in the Philippines, registered a record-breaking 94-percent growth after selling 577 units, compared to the 297 units sold in the same period of last year.
Motor Image, distributor of Subaru vehicles for nine Asian countries including the Philippines, recently celebrated the start of assembly operations for the XV crossover in its plant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The rollout was officiated by Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Y. B. Dato’ Mukhriz Tun Mahathir; Glenn Tan, executive director of Tan Chong International Limited, parent company of Motor Image; and executives from Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries, the manufacturer of Subaru.
Motor Image Enterprises Singapore recently invited journalists from the Asean region to witness the unveiling of the all-new fourth-generation Subaru Forester at the Leo Foo Village in Hsin Chu, Taiwan. According to Mike Luyun, general manager of Motor Image Pilipinas, the Philippines is the Forester’s largest market in the Asean, selling close to 1,000 units as of the last count this year. Here’s a rundown on why it remains to be the King of Compact SUV segment in terms of performance, desirability and image.
Motor Image Pilipinas (MIP), the exclusive distributor of Subaru vehicles in the country, along with its authorized dealers, will hold its annual Kansha Festival from Nov. 14 to 18 in all of its showrooms. Also known as Subaru customer appreciation week, the Kansha festival is originally a celebration adapted from the Japanese “Kinro Kansha no Hi” or Labor Thanksgiving Day. In observance of this holiday in Japan, Motor Image will be using the same theme by giving away exclusive offers on selected Subaru vehicles, accessories, parts, aftersales service and even Subaru Lifestyle merchandise items which will only be offered only during the campaign week.
The growing popularity of car-based compact sport utility vehicles with all-wheel drive (AWD) is proving to be a bonanza for the Motor Image Group, the authorized distributor of Subaru vehicles in the Asean, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Southern China.
It’s no secret to the local motoring media that the Philippine market, despite its modest size, is Motor Image’s favorite market. It’s one dear to Glenn Tan, chief executive of Motor Image Group, the exclusive distributor of Fuji Heavy Industries/Subaru vehicles in Asean (excluding parts of China). That’s because the Philippines is the only market that Motor Image/Subaru has been able to properly position itself as a premium Japanese brand with a very strong brand equity, brand image, brand following and loyalty. Subarus are genuinely considered aspirational vehicles in the Philippines.
The whole world is talking about TomKat’s (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) sudden divorce after five years of marriage and a daughter. Dirty details on the probable epic custody and divorce battles are filling up most of the news channels, from Tom’s superstar controlling ways and Katie’s fleeing to New York.
THE brand name today conjures up images of reliable and sensible sedans, MPVs, pickups, and SUVs. And hybrids. Sporty is one of the last adjectives that one would associate with the Japanese car giant. Yet a long time ago, in a galaxy not far away, Toyota has always had an interesting sports car in its lineup. Sean Connery’s James Bond got infatuated with the exotic 2000GT. The Celica gained legions of fans during its seven generations of existence. And the MR2—a compact sports car that shared the mid-engined, rear-wheel drive layout of all the best exotics, but at the mere gasoline budget of those cars—who else but Toyota competently did that?
What happens when Subaru, known for making left-field performance cars, refocuses their engineering prowess to, instead of building another tarmac terrorist, creating the ideal city car for the zeitgeist?
Just when everyone thought that the Forester was Subaru’s only entry in the car-based SUV segment, here comes the XV, another Subaru compact crossover built on the Impreza platform. Launched last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the stylish XV debuted at the recent Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) and promptly generated buzz that it would grab market share from compact crossover leaders like the Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V and Ford Escape.
Motor Image Pilipinas, the country’s distributor for Subaru cars had a mediocre year for 2011 due to a low production output globally as it is still reeling from the devastating effects of the great Japan earthquake and the giant tsunami waves that ensued, destroying a large number of production facilities for a number of Japanese car manufacturers and its parts suppliers.
Covering the Subaru Impreza Challenge Asian Face-Off is more like a lifestyle than a true motoring event. But the chance of someone winning an exciting car such as the Impreza is always worth watching out for, particularly if it’s in a special, tourist-friendly venue such as Singapore. With 10 Filipino qualifiers accompanied by members of [...]
