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FROM
selling cars to selling caution.
How’s
that for a new tack on Arnel Doria?
But
first, the introductions.
Who is
Arnel Doria, again? Or, to be more politically correct,
who doesn’t know Arnel Doria?
Well,
for starters, Arnel Doria is generally known as the No.
1 salesman of Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI). As
HCPI’s vice president for marketing, Doria has been
largely credited with Honda’s lofty standing in the
market for almost two decades now. If there’s someone
at Honda you need to know who’s best equipped with the
tools to transform a new model into an instant winner,
that’s Arnel Doria. His middle initial is C—for
Consistency.
For 18
years or so, Arnel has pushed Honda to heights with the
aggressiveness of a brick crusher. His ferocity at
facing challenges against all odds has become legend in
the industry. His peers, like Danny Isla of Toyota, Mel
Dizon of Mitsubishi, Art Balmadrid of Isuzu, Dave
Macasadia of Mazda, Ariel de Jesus of Subaru, Albert
Arcilla of Volvo and Glen Dasig of Ford, have only the
highest respect for Arnel.
“Against
Arnel, you have to be on your toes all the time,” says
Subaru’s Ariel, echoing the sentiments of Arnel’s
rivals. “He may look cool from the outside, but from
the inside, there’s a tiger always on the prowl.”
If,
through the years, Honda has consistently occupied
either No. 2 or No. 3 in the industry behind perennial
leader Toyota, you’ve got to give it to Arnel Doria.
But
then, as the saying goes, nothing is permanent in this
world—only change.
Today,
Arnel Doria is no longer vice president of marketing of
HCPI. Worse, he is no longer connected with HCPI.
“Sadly,
he’s left us,” says Tintin Reyes, Arnel’s ablest
lieutenant of all time. “We can only wish him well in
his new endeavor. He’s a big loss to the company.”
It all
began one morning when Arnel woke up (with a hangover, I
guess? He-he) and, before rising from bed, he asked
himself, “Will I really be selling cars all my life?”
That was
five years ago.
The
seeds of change had been sown.
In
August of 2003, Arnel Doria drafted the feasibility
study on the setting up of a “Driving Center” chiefly
under the umbrella of Honda Cars Japan.
To his
happy surprise, the HCPI president then, Kenji Otaka,
was receptive to the idea.
In
October 2003, Arnel headed a Honda team in visiting the
Singapore Safety Driving Center and the Bukit Batok
Driving Center. Both are joint-venture projects of Honda
and the Singapore government.
“They
are the first safety driving centers in Southeast Asia,”
Arnel says.
In April
2005, Arnel sent a team for a 75-day chief instructors’
training at the Bukit Batok Driving Center in Singapore.
In May
of that year, another team accompanied by then Land
Transportation Office chief Anneli Lontoc and Traffic
Safety Division chief Daisy Jacobo went with Arnel for a
study tour in Singapore.
Then, it
was limbo. Nothing.
“I
reevaluated my options, restudied the concept,” says
Arnel. “Again, I spent sleepless nights examining
things. Where did I go wrong? I almost called it
quits.”
Then
came the clincher: profit versus obligation.
“I
changed my approach completely,” Arnel says. “I said,
‘This project will not be profit-oriented anymore.’
Instead, it will be a project that needs to be done
because anyone selling a vehicle must accompany it with
the obligation to inculcate safety to every customer.”
The
green light for his project had become elusive, indeed,
but to Arnel’s happy surprise, the “Obligation Factor”
did it.
“I gave
it one last try,” says Arnel. “I flew to Bangkok one
last time to appeal my case before the Honda regional
offices big bosses.”
Arnel
was accompanied on the trip by both presidents of HCPI
and Honda Motorcycle Philippines.
To his
pleasant surprise, it didn’t take Arnel five minutes to
earn the nod of the top honchos in Bangkok.
“I was
like in Cloud Nine,” says Arnel. “My two bosses, also
in their joy, suddenly blurted in front of the big
bosses, ‘Let’s celebrate now!’”
That
approval came on November 27, 2006. On March 13, 2007,
a press conference was held to announce the
establishment of the Honda Safety Driving Center (HSDC),
the first privately owned driving center in the
Philippines. A week later, the HSDC Foundation was
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On April
9 this year, the HSDC was finally inaugurated in Bicutan,
Parañaque.
On May
12, the first batch of students trying to earn their
driver’s licenses had their first day of classes at HSDC
under 19 instructors trained in Singapore and Japan.
“When
you sell something that can be touched, seen and felt by
the customer like a car, it’s kinda easy to clinch a
deal,” says Arnel. “But now that I’m selling something
new that can’t be touched, seen and felt, why, it’s a
completely new world for me.”
That
“something new” is none other than safety, a.k.a.
caution.
As the
general manager of HSDC, it is Arnel’s obligation to
revolutionize the approach to safety driving in the
country. Both licensed drivers wanting to reform their
driving habits (company owners have been sending their
drivers since to HSDC in droves for reeducation) and
wannabes are welcomed to enroll at HSDC at minimal fees.
It’s a
tall order for HSDC, given that the Filipino driver has
some of the worst driving habits in the world. But
Arnel has always been known to thrive under pressure.
“It’s a
dream come true,” says Arnel, who, this early, I baptize
as the father of safety driving in the country. “A car
has a tag price, yes, but safety? It is priceless.”
HCPI’s
loss is HSDC’s gain.
Pee
stop.
A sign in a car shop specializing in welding: “The art
of the matter here is safety.”...Dakila Rodrigo
Francesco M. Sadiwa will be baptized tomorrow, July 19.
Nicknamed Ilak, the baby will share the special day with
his sister Maya. Maya turns three on July 21, the same
day that Toyota’s Danny Isla is turning in a new leaf
himself. |
