In China, Changan Auto Philippines GM Maricar Parco talks about brand positioning, and what the Filipino market can expect
Interview by Kap Maceda Aguila
What’s the reason behind this trip to Chongqing?
The reason why we brought our dealer partners and also our media friends is for everyone to be immersed in the brand. The best way to do that is to come to the headquarters, the home of Changan, and have a lot of seat time with the products. That’s really what drives the brand.
What is the core message?
All we want to say is that Changan Auto has all these product offerings and is a very good option for all the motorists out there. We want people to check us out; Changan Auto is a very good brand and is one of the top four brands in China. And now, they’ve decided to get out of (purely) domestic activities and get into sharing the product portfolio more aggressively outside of the country. It’s a vast range of products. So I’d say we have one for everyone — from the price-sensitive market to the more discerning drivers; from the ICE products to EVs. We have the whole product line. We have just relaunched in the Philippines, highlighting ICE offerings and previewed our Deepal EV line, just to show the possibilities of what Changan can bring into the market. We want to invite the Filipino motoring public to test-drive and see for themselves. We can talk about the specifications, but at the end of the day, it’s all about how you feel when you drive the vehicle, and what suits the lifestyle — from sedans, to SUVS, to pickups — even to EVs.
Noting the diverse lineup of Changan, what are the value propositions of the brand — things you want to put out there? To a large extent, Filipinos are now receptive to China brands. The challenge I think is to stand out from the pack.
I think this is the reason people really have to visit our showrooms and test-drive our vehicles, because it’s not simply about pricing or value proposition. I’m really very confident that these will exceed people’s expectations. What is standard in some of the higher-priced vehicles of other brands comes standard with ours. The smart technologies are there across the line, and the driving dynamics are something I’m really proud of.
We’ve tested several vehicles here — notably the Avatr 11 — that are not in the Philippines yet. That begs the question, how soon can we see these products in our country?
That’s the beauty of this partnership between Changan and Inchcape. The whole brand portfolio of Changan Auto is available for Inchcape Philippines. Again, we introduced the Changan ICE vehicles and previewed the Deepal which we hope to introduce as soon as next year. And because of the proximity of China to the country, we can get our vehicles quite quickly, and it’s really just a matter of having the business proposition approved. We’d be very happy to bring in the flagship brand, the Avatr to the country. We’ll keep you posted. EVs are inevitable, soon enough, we’d love to bring those in. That’s another reason we brought in our dealer partners. If they tell us they need this, we’ll go. We’re interested in hearing feedback as to what the Philippine market would be attuned to. All these possibilities are there.