Inchcape Philippines has been making great strides in the country ever since they set foot here. Aside from getting the distribution for premium brands like Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, and Jeep, they were also appointed as the new distributor for Changan Auto – also their first mass-market brand locally. Apart from that, they have been pushing for digitalization for a better customer experience.
Only, digitalization is still a foreign word when it comes to car ownership. Is it just a revamp of websites? New social media pages? Just how will their customers benefit from the things they’re doing in the back-end?
We had a brief lunch with Inchcape Philippines’s new Country Head – Alex Yap. He replaced Alex Hammett who used to be both Country Head for the PH while also being the Managing Director for South Asia and Pacific region. Now, he can focus on the latter. Meanwhile, Yap shared how pivotal is the new Changan showroom in C5 and how their digitalization efforts will result in a better customer experience.
A New Alex
Leading Inchcape Philippines further in the changing automotive landscape is Alex Yap, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience behind his cheerful look. He has worked in countries such as China, Singapore, Guam, and Saipan handling luxury brands like Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Jaguar Land Rover, but also some mass-market brands like Toyota and Suzuki. He was previously the Managing Director of Inchcape in Guam and Saipan from 2022 – 2024 and Sales and Distribution Director of Inchcape Singapore from 2017 – 2022.
Beyond Showroom
The massive Changan showroom along C5 in Pasig is the biggest dealership of the brand in the country, but it’s just on the surface. It sits on the massive 11,222 sqm. Inchcape Philippines Distribution Complex. The Changan showroom is joined by a Training Academy, Technician Barracks so out of town trainees won’t have to rent rooms in other places, Inchcape Corporate Office, Service Area, Multi-Brand Body and Paint Workshop, and a 1,338 sqm. Parts Distribution Center.
The Service Area can accommodate up to 15 units a day, while the Training Academy can hold up to 84 people or 2 cars, along with a few people for hands-on learning. They say the Parts Center can store up to 6 months worth of parts for every car in every brand under Inchcape’s umbrella. So how will they know which parts to store?
Digital Solutions
Alex Yap has been instrumental in the streamlining processes through digitalization of Inchcape Guam and Saipan. But even before his arrival, Inchcape Philippines has already planted digital seeds in their operations.
They have already set up Digital Delivery Centres that support brand frontliners and help customers with up to 1,400 digital specialists delivering world-class solutions.
On the brand side, instead of the usual every dealership for themself, Inchcape Philippines has incorporated a consolidated Dealer Management System for all the brands they handle. It helps boost performance across vehicle sales, service, and parts to free up more capabilities for brand partners to ensure a better experience for their customers.
Complementing this is the Vehicle Demand Tracker that helps forecast vehicle and parts demand through statistical analysis and a Warehouse Management System that optimizes layouts, provides real-time inventory data, and keeps track of product movement. They also use modern logistics methods to ensure the requested parts get to their intended place or customer on time, even if same-day delivery if possible or needed.
“The objective of having digital solutions is to make things more effective and efficient for them (customers)” said Yap. “We [can] know in the provinces which dealer partner of [ours] is low on certain stock. Tech can allow us to say you are low on stock on this particular model, we can send some to you if you (dealer) are comfortable with that… From there it leads to a shorter time if you are a customer – you didn’t wait for days or weeks for parts to come because we know ahead of time.”
Aside from the push for digital solutions, Inchcape Philippines is also focused on the strength of their personnel. They are currently eyeing more training for electric vehicles, along with certifying everyone for all brands they handle.
