Last year was a record year for Bermaz Auto Philippines (BAP), the official distributor of Mazda vehicles and parts in the country. Selling 5,244 units in the full calendar year of 2017, it represents a 28 percent increase in sales compared to the same period in 2016. It is, in fact, Mazda’s best year in terms of sales since BAP took over the Mazda distributorship five years ago.
Broken down by model, this is how each Mazda model faired:
The only model that didn’t grow, the BT-50 slid some 35 percent, but that’s down to inventory and supply issues, according to BAP.
Looking ahead to 2018, Steven Tan, President of BAP sees the continued rise of Mazda in the Philippines. Although the industry is grappling with the effect of the new excise tax, Mr. Tan believes that by focusing on profitability for dealers, it will lead to better employee and customer satisfaction, which in turn, will help Mazda weather the storm.
“Most people don’t focus on dealer partner profitability. The typical way of thinking is that for as long as dealers get ample stock to sell to the customers, then that’s the end of a distributor’s responsibility,” says Mr. Tan. “When we first started, our dealers were operating at losses. As the years went by, we moved in the positive direction and in fact, last year was the best year for our dealers as well. By helping our dealers’ bottom line, they can in turn keep good people. We are proud to have one of the lowest employee attrition rates among dealers in the automotive industry, in fact. By enabling our dealers to gain experience, they can, in turn, give better customer experience.”
Mazda Philippines is aiming for yet another record year in 2018, hoping to sell more than 5,000 units in the country.
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