MANILA, Philippines - Every so often, like clockwork, a Ford Fiesta makes its way from a car bay beside a big white tent at the SM Mall of Asia open grounds, and zips off onto the distance.
By the tent entrance, another Ford Fiesta – this time tricked out in green and black and impressively detailed – sits proudly. This is a replica of the DC-Ken Block unit that Block punishes via “gymkhana” exhibitions of maneuverability that have made raves and the rounds on Youtube. Go look it up.
“This is a showcase of all our vehicles, starting from the Ford Fiesta, of course,” says Ford Group Philippines (FGP) AVP for National Sales Glen Dasig, motioning to the assembly of vehicles inside the air-conditioned tent.
Welcome to the Ford Expo – FGP’s largest display of its vaunted portfolio.
At the far end of the exhibit area is a large screen displaying the progress of racers “driving” Focus vehicles at a row of Focus-TRS Racing simulators below. A DC apparel booth, meanwhile, is situated next to a couple of eye-catching Fiestas, and a muscular Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 takes center stage. The weekend’s Ford fiesta (pun intended) is capped with great deals – including a free DVD package upgrade for the Ford Everest, and new “all-in” low down payment, low monthly payment, and 60 days free amortization offers exclusively from East-West Bank.
The “smorgas-Ford” attracts a lot car enthusiasts and passersby – especially interested in getting behind the wheel of the Fiesta (about seven units are available for test drive, in addition to other Ford vehicles).
Although the car represents an initial foray into the sub-compact market for Ford in the Philippines, Dasig says the “response has been overwhelming.” There is a long waiting list as initial deliveries have been snapped up.
“It’s our first time in the segment, but it’s not our first time dealing with customers,” Dasig underscores. “The benefit of being able to get feedback and experience in Europe and the US is that we used that expertise to tailor fit the communication and specs to Philippine market.”
Speaking of which, we ask the Ford executive if the B segment is already a crowded niche in the country – especially with the entry of new brands and models. “There are a lot of players in the B segment, but the B segment is the largest in the industry. With economic indicators, a lot more people are going to buy cars,” Dasig says confidently.
Ford is also extremely excited about how the Fiesta will sell. There are number of things that give it a decided advantage over competitors, shares Dasig. There’s Bluetooth voice control, a sturdier yet lighter boron steel reinforcement in the passenger cage, Powershift dual-clutch transmission technology, ABS, EBD, brake assistance system, airbags, and a lot of other niceties we look forward to writing about in greater detail. Suffice it to say that many of these features have previously been confined to high-end vehicles. Ford now ups the ante.
Clearly, the fiesta has begun.