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IT was a
short but fun-filled and eye-opening experience when a
large delegation of local car distributors and media
representatives went to China late last month.
No, we
were not part of the ongoing investigation into the
NBN-ZTE brouhaha, but a sort of fact-finding delegation
that saw firsthand how the Chinese-made Chery cars were
being manufactured in their own plant in the far-flung
and very cold province of Wuhu.
As I’ve
said, we were a big delegation composed of distributors
in Manila who had already bought stakes in the onslaught
of the brand.
Among
them were Eduardo Quiñones (Chery La Union, Baguio,
Pangasinan); Romeo Pangan (Chery Pampanga), Milton Ngu
and Anna Marie Tanhueco (Chery Manila and Balintawak);
Jose Mari Hizon (Chery Makati); Kim Pio Go (Chery Makati);
Jesus Chua (Chery Tarlac); Nemesio Barrameda (Chery
Cavite); Raymund Roque Basubas (Chery Cebu); Anthony
Cheng (Chery Alabang, Las Piñas, Parañaque); Ramon
Almeda (Chery Global City, Ortigas, Batangas, Laguna);
Edward Chiu (Chery Cagayan de Oro); Edward Lawrence
Bangayan (Chery General Santos, Davao, Bacolod,
Zamboanga) and Cresencio Fernandez (Chery Rizal and
Fairview).
And
joining them in the freezing weather were Manila-based
journalists, namely, Ron de los Reyes and his son Ronald
of Auto Review; Manila Standard’s Dino Directo and Jojo
Robles; Philippine Star’s Lester Dizon; C-Magazine’s
Carl Christian Van Hoven; and, yes, the three-man strong
BusinessMirror team of Popong Andolong, Ira Panganiban
and this writer. The organizing Iseway Motor officials
were also with us and they were chairman Antonio Lacdao,
director Archie Kalvin Uy, CEO Ricky Lam, CFO Lester
Molina, advisor Alfredo Chan Lee Ming, dealers’ manager
Tito Yupangco, sales manager Kim Go, as well as
marketing and service manager Jonas Silva.
It was a
low 6°C when we touched down at the huge and ultramodern
Shanghai airport. Its impressive design and structure
could compete with the best in the world. With such a
huge delegation, it was a wonder how Panda Travel’s
China Panorama was able to handle our group. We easily
breezed our way through the immigration counters before
meeting Winnie Zhang, our travel guide for the next four
days.
Yes,
Winnie was as comfortable with Filipino travelers as she
easily conveyed all the things the Filipinos needed to
know. Many raised their eyebrows when Winnie started
blurting out words such as “pasaway, Greenhills
and 168!”
After
herding us into a huge bus that served as our vehicle
during our entire stay, we went straight to
Nanjing
province but not before stopping at the Ai Yi Te
Restaurant for the delegation’s first taste of Chinese
dishes and a sidetrip to a local tiangge. After
a four-hour journey, it was almost dark when we arrived
in
Nanjing.
Hungry and exhausted, we went directly to the elegant
Xjangyang Yu Gang Restaurant for a truly filling dinner
before checking in at the Grand Metro Park (formerly the
Hilton Hotel). By then, the weather dipped to 1°C and we
hurriedly entered the hotel.
Day Two
still saw us scurrying to the bus although the weather
was warmer at 7°C. Then the long trek to
Wuhu, site of the Chery plant, began. After a brief lunch
along the way, we went straight to the Conch Hotel where
we met the Chery Cars International officials in a
lavish dinner tendered at the Jin Ying Restaurant.
One
could easily say that
Wuhu is Chery country as its products are everywhere.
Chery taxicabs and private cars lord it over a
sprinkling of cars from Volkswagen and General Motors.
There,
the delegation met Dr. Zhang Lin, the general manager of
Chery International and president assistant of Chery
Automobile Co. With him were Wang Mo, vice president of
Chery International; Tony Sun, president assistant and
general manager of Asia-Pacific and South African Region
of Chery International; Lian Yong, regional manager of
Asia-Pacific; Wang Chao, spokesman of Chery
International; Tang Xinyu; Zhu Weiping; Wang Xin, and
Gary Tung, sales manager for the Asia-Pacific Region.
There were also officials from Serrano (a subsidiary of
the publicly listed Hong Kong company Simsen
International Corp. Ltd.), which owns the distribution
rights in the Philippines as well as the financing and
purchasing of Chery vehicles, such as Andrew Chan,
managing director of Simsen International Corp. Ltd.,
and Derek Cheung.
In his
speech, Dr. Zhang thanked the delegation for making it
to Wuhu. “We are hoping that you could spread the word
that there’s a great company here in Wuhu which is Chery.
In the future, you’ll be proud that you are a part of
this growing company. We’re very young [established in
1997] but we are very much proud of accomplishing
results.”
(To be continued) |
