Turning the Silver Key

(First of Two Parts)

In this day and age of mobility and convergence, most industries could lay claim on getting this paradox down pat — to be both coming and going in various levels, to be centrifugal in growth spreading outwards and yet centripetal in goal always winding down to the original, core vision.

Take the country’s automotive industry. While it has always been a rich area for outward growth in product development, marketing innovation and, not to mention, modifications in international trade freedoms and restrictions, the people of the local automotive industry have always exhibited a strong allegiance to each of their own company’s global image, corporate social responsibility and, of course, business targets. The automotive industry’s consumers have also assumed quite a paradoxical position. Buyers are always looking out for what’s new and what’s upcoming but they have strong brand allegiances and are always looking inward, into their lifestyles and needs.

Just when we thought the automotive industry has reached a predictable movement, a new player makes a splash sending ripples across the liquid surface of the Philippine automotive industry. MC Mall, Inc. has a singular business goal — to recreate the consumer retail and service industry. And now this company, whose expertise is to forge niche markets, is driving the car industry — manufacturers, sellers and buyers — to one destination.

What Now?: After the Tokyo Motor Show

The Tokyo Motor Show is like a super mall for cars. Everything that has wheels and every bit of nut and bolt, spare parts and accessories were all on display. One will have to walk kilometers to be able to see everything. Still it was a show, not a mere exhibit. And so it became a venue where car engineering, automotive technology, mechanical invention, visual arts, fashion, theater and pop culture collided in an interesting and entertaining display of convergence.

The Tokyo Motor Show has indeed become a way of life. A time when people from all walks of life travel to a single destination for one reason — to experience it.

One would spot fathers and sons or whole families taking each other’s pictures beside the concept cars, or large groups of teenagers out on a day of fun, or a long line of tiny kindergarten pupils with girls in pink and boys in light blue, holding hands through the maze of motorcycles on display. And then you have the usual tourists, motoring journalists, gearheads and geeks among the mass of people all in awe.

There’s nothing like a Tokyo Motor Show to put some excitement in the Motoring scene with the concerts, the short skits and one act musicals, the music and light displays, and the product pitches that could dazzle cynics. Yet after the stories of futuristic cars have been told and next year’s car models have been launched, what happens next? Well in the Philippines, what happens next may not be a Manila Motor Show that could rival the best shows in Southeast Asia. At least, not yet. What happens next may be the first step to that.

The Silver City

By the end of the year, MC Mall, Inc. will have launched the Silver City, a tri-mall concept which will be comprised of the Auto Mall, Fusion-tech and Wellness Mall. There’s nothing new with putting the best brands in fashion, gadgets, food and wellness services under one roof but combining all that with a huge mall wing dedicated to cars is the hallmark of retail and service industry innovation.

By the time Silver City opens next year, people will start buying cars from a mall. But it won’t be just like any mall. Silver City’s Auto Mall aims to bring a bit of the Tokyo Motor Show experience, the sounds, sights and lights, within its glass-convention type architecture. Simply put, it will be the axis where the world of cars, and its myriad of satellites, turn.

For the longest time, car dealers and manufacturers have been bringing their cars to the malls. This time a place, like the Auto Mall, which is built to suit the automotive industry and its passionate customers is on the rise. The Auto Mall is specifically designed to show-off cars and to attract droves of people, the perfect equation. The Auto Mall will definitely influence the way cars are sold and bought in this country.