Geely Coolray tops five-seater subcompact SUV sales in Q1
GEELY PH LOGS HIGHEST COOLRAY SALES IN MARCH 2021
Sojitz G Auto Philippines (SGAP), the official local distributor of Geely vehicles in the country, announced that Coolray has once again ranked number 1 in the five-seater subcompact crossover segment consistently from January to March with 744 units sold in Q1.
Geely has also maintained its top 10 ranking, keeping number nine position in total industry sales with a total of 1,313 units sold during the 1st quarter of the year. This is a 345 percent increase from the 295 units sold in the same period of 2020. Of the 1,313 units sold in Q1, 57 percent of Geely’s sales came from its bestselling model Coolray. Meantime, 40 percent came from the midsize Okavango SUV with 521 units.
Geely has also recorded its highest monthly sales this March as it registered 533 units sold, surpassing its highest monthly sales record of 520 units last December 2020.
“The numbers speak for themselves. We are happy that we continue to maintain and even surpass our own highest record. This is reflective of our collective effort to rise above pandemic challenges,” SGAP president & CEO Mikihisa Takayama said.
As Geely is targeting to sell around 9,500 units this year, this objective has become more and more challenging given the current situation of the rising COVID-19 cases and enforcement of stricter quarantine measures especially for the National Capital Region which affected the overall business environment, particularly consumer confidence. “We are still hoping that the situation gets better in the coming months for us to realize this business volume target,” SGAP Sales and Marketing General Manager, Froilan Dytianquin said.
SOJITZ G AUTO PHILIPPINES APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT & CEO
Sojitz G Auto Philippines (SGAP)’s president & CEO Mikihisa Takayama will end his assignment this month to fulfill a new role in SGAP’s mother company, Sojitz Corporation in Tokyo, Japan. Taking over his role as the new president and CEO is SGAP’s current Executive Vice President, Yosuke Nishi.
Geely was launched in the country last September 2019 under its local distributor SGAP. As the company’s President & CEO since 2019, Takayama led SGAP to aggressively move in making Geely’s presence known in the local car market consistently with its successful launches of the Geely Coolray as well as the Azkarra and Okavango in spite of the fragile state of the auto industry as a result of the pandemic.
During his term, Takayama has also directed the Geely brand into achieving its milestones as a young brand in the Philippine automotive market. Geely has consistently logged high sales record with Coolray managing to be the top-selling model in its class in most months from 2020 to 2021. Recently, SGAP announced that it has maintained its top 10 industry ranking in March keeping number nine position in total industry sales.
Nishi will take the helm as SGAP’s new president & CEO starting May 1, 2021. As SGAP’s Executive Vice President, he has been working alongside Takayama in steering SGAP in the right direction since 2019.
Nishi started his automotive stint in the Philippines as an executive from 2012-2018. He admitted that he learned to love the country and the Filipinos.
“Since I am really fascinated by the Filipino culture, I wanted to come back to the Philippines. And during my short stay in Japan, I had been visiting the Philippines for the preparation of the establishment of SGAP. I have worked on getting an approval from Sojitz to establish the Geely business,” SGAP’s incoming president & CEO Yosuke Nishi said.
Being hands-on with the rise of the Geely brand in the country, the incoming SGAP president & CEO has definitely built a deep connection with the business, even calling it his ‘baby’.
“Since SGAP, the Geely business in the Philippines, is my baby, I felt the need to grow it together with our customers and business partners. I want to assure everyone that SGAP/Geely Philippines can give the best services and experiences to the customers,” Nishi added.