With Peugeot now under the stewardship of
newly-minted distributor, Astara
, they realize the uphill struggle they’re facing; after all, the French car brand changed hands locally no less than three times since the early 2000s. However, they believe the worst is behind them, and under the leadership of their new managing director, Raoul Picello, the automaker seeks to move forward by going back to basics once more.
Picello leads a team that make up the locally-formed entity, BA Motors Philippines. The Spain-based Astara holds the majority stake—90 percent, while the previous Peugeot distributor, Eurobrands Distributors, Inc. or EDI, kept the remaining shares. BA Motors Philippines’s top management is made up of industry veterans including Maricar Parco, Peugeot Philippines Brand Head and Prudz Castillo, Peugeot Philippines Marketing and Product Director.
Besides hiring a crack team to push Peugeot in the Philippines, Picello has identified three key weaknesses of the brand; weaknesses they seek to fix moving forward. These are: brand awareness, network coverage, and customer satisfaction.
These factors may seem like something straight out of Business 101, but Picello also believes the previous distributors didn’t get the entire formula right. This was especially true in 2020 to 2021, which Picello says “were the darkest times for Peugeot in the Philippines.”
Today, thanks to a strong relationship with Stellantis, who, on their own is pushing aggressively into Southeast Asian market, Peugeot Philippines will have access to vehicles which aren’t just more competitively speced, but also give their dealers improved margins. Vehicles such as the new Peugeot
3008
and
5008
, and the
upcoming 2008
are all sourced from there. Picello confirmed that “80 percent” of their products will be sourced from
Peugeot’s assembly plant in Gurun, Malaysia
. This leaves the possibility of having one vehicle sourced from Europe or elsewhere (China, maybe?).
The improved margins, in turn, will help Peugeot attract more dealer partners to expand their network coverage. Three out of the seven dealerships expected to rise this year have already been identified: Alabang, Cebu, and Davao. In turn, Picello believes that by bringing the Peugeot brand closer to more Filipinos, this will equate to a better customer experience overall.
By the second half of the year, Astara will begin to offer a whole range of products and services going beyond ownership. These include leasing and subscription plans. In addition, they plan to lean on their robust self-developed B2B and B2C digital channels which helped them expand to 14 countries in Europe and Latin America.
Keyword: Peugeot Philippines Managing Director Identities 3 Weaknesses He Plans to Fix