BAIC opens flagship showroom in Makati

Launches mini-trucks

MANILA, Philippines - The Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company, Ltd., more popularly known as BAIC, is the fourth largest automotive manufacturing group in China. It is headquartered in Beijing and at the Turin Styling Centre in Italy; boasts of having one of the most comprehensive portfolios of products in China; and currently ranks 160th in the Fortune Global 500 list.

BAIC’s local flagship showroom, under the management of Bayan Automotive Industries Corporation (Bayan Auto)—the exclusive distributor of BAIC passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles in the country—opened last   week along Chino Roces Ave. in Makati City. Bayan Auto is a subsidiary of Universal Motors Corporation (UMC), the largest and oldest purely Filipino-owned automotive assembler and distributor in the country.

The flagship showroom is a 1,200 square meters, two-story building that is handicap-accessible, and even exceeds the city’s fire code standards. It features a 12-vehicle streetfront display area, and offers the complete slew of sales, after-sales service and automotive parts,.Amid a modern interior that is clean-cut with no columns in the walkways; and includes a stylish customer lounge, multiple sales offices and a comfortable reception area. The same building also houses BAIC’s executive office, keeping it close to where the business happens.

Present during the inauguration was no less than President and CEO of BAIC International Development Company Ltd., Dr. Haiyang Dong. Dr. Dong flew to Manila from China to support this milestone event, and explained during his speech at the opening ceremony that “BAIC is in possession of several automobile enterprises, including BAIC Motor, Foton, BAIC Yinxiang, Beijing Benz, Beijing Hyundai, Changhe Suzuki, and R&D institutions as well as spare parts businesses.”

It is thus, no surprise that in 2016, the BAIC Group achieved $58 billion in revenue, and 2.8 million units in sales volume —making them number one in terms of growth rate within China’s automotive sector. This paved the way for them to climb 47 notches up the Fortune 500 List of that same year to 160 (from the previous year, when they ranked 207th). Furthermore, BAIC now ranks 13th among automobile companies worldwide.

“The Southeast Asian market is particularly prominent to BAIC, with its export volume ranking the first among Chinese auto enterprises,” declared Dr. Dong. “Thus, BAIC devotes to providing quality products and services for Southeast Asian consumers in the pursuit of happy travel, efficient and environmentally friendly transportation.”

When asked why the Philippines is among BAIC’s primary countries of choice for business expansion, Dr. Dong explained, in an exclusive interview, that because the country’s relationship with China has grown better and better, and because of the country’s relatively stable political environment in the last few years, BAIC has identified the Philippines as an attractive market for international expansion. “The potential here is huge,” he remarked. Not to mention that Filipinos have exhibited strong and increasing purchasing power. “And of course we have a very good partner here – UMC,” remarked Dr. Dong as he pointed to President and CEO of BAIC Philippines, George Chua, who was alongside him.

Chua then shared their business philosophy, which was quite straightforward: “The Philippine market deserves to be serviced properly—and that means being given good quality products, at a good price.” He then expounded, “Our vehicles are Euro 4, Euro 5 or higher,” and, “We (the Philippines) are not a dumping ground” for products of lesser standards.

As a matter of fact, the Philippines’ Clean Air Act mandates that after January 1, 2018, all new vehicles sold will have to be at least Euro 4-compliant.

The flagship showroom inauguration also coincided with BAIC’s local launch of two of its latest light trucks: the Bayanihan H5 cab and chassis, and the Freedom Minitruck. “The Bayanihan H5 is our answer to the absence of cab and chassis here,” explained Chua. “Meanwhile, because pickup trucks have gone beyond the affordability of most farmers these days, we brought in the Freedom Minitruck to bring back utility to the people that need it,” he added.

The Freedom Minitruck is offered in pickup-truck layouts, and goes for an impressive starting price of P458,000 for the single-cab variant. The double-cab (a rare variant among locally available new vehicles) sells for P488,000. Both are Euro-4 compliant and run on a 1.4L gasoline engine. They promise almost a ton of payload, and are within the lowest-taxed tier of the new vehicle excise tax structure.

Furthermore, the Bayanihan H5 offers a 1.5-ton payload capacity on a 10-foot-long body (compare to an 8-foot L300, for perspective). It runs on a 1.8L Euro-4 compliant turbo-diesel engine, and sells for P598,000 (in basic cab & chassis form).

Chua foresees that BAIC’s latest tech partners and automobile partnerships—BAIC has partnerships with Daimler AG and MB Tech—will pave the way for wider acceptability of the brand in international markets.

“In fact, BAIC has already delved into fixed-wing aircrafts and rotary vehicles (choppers), and as of last year, even aerospace!” shared a very optimistic Chua.

The Bayan Auto CEO also teased on an upcoming MPV product that will soon be offered by BAIC in the Philippine market. As among his clues, he revealed that it will be offered in automatic transmission, and that it will have greater passenger capacity. Photos by Manny N. de los Reyes & Angel Rivero