BMW eyes higher sales this year

MANILA, Philippines - BMW Philippines is aiming for higher sales this year given the country’s positive economic performance.

“We are looking at (selling) 900 to 1,000 units this year, Auto Allee Group Inc. president and chief executive officer Justin Marcus Koa told reporters at the sidelines of the launch of BMW’s partnership with Filinvest Land Inc. yesterday.

Auto Allee is an authorized dealer of BMW vehicles in the country.

Koa said over 700 BMW vehicles were sold last year.

He noted that the best-selling BMW models here are the Series 3 and the X1 luxury sports activity vehicle.

He said BMW vehicles are selling well in the Philippines given the country’s strong economic performance.

“We are seeing growth in the country. Traffic is coming back. There are a lot of developments, construction and money for spending,” he said.

With sales targeted to rise this year from a year ago, a new dealership located in Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) cor. Quezon Ave is slated to open in September this year.

Koa said the new dealership, which would be the eighth outlet selling BMW vehicles in the country, will also be the biggest.

He said there is likewise a plan to open a new dealership in Davao.

In the same event, BMW and Filinvest launched the Dream and Drive Promo which would give new Filinvest homeowners a chance to own a brand new BMW X1.

A property buyer gets one raffle stub for every P500,000 worth of purchase of Filinvest products.

“This covers all existing projects of Filinvest, as long as we have license to sell,” Filinvest first vice president Tristan Las Marias said.

The promo runs from May until Aug. 31.

Filinvest senior vice president Francis Ceballos said the promo would to help the company achieve higher sales this year, noting that previous promotional activities have contributed about 20 to 30 percent in sales.

“The sky’s the limit for this new promo. The higher (contribution to sales), the better,” he said.

Filinvest is aiming for an overall increase of 15 to 20 percent in sales this year.

Real estate sales of the firm reached P8.798 billion last year, up 27 percent from 2011.