BPI slates 13th Auto Madness on April 1 to 3 at Ayala Center

CEBU, Philippines -    As the prospects for automobile sales in the Philippines remain bullish, the Bank of the Philippine Island (BPI) Family Bank will hold its 13th “Auto Madness” show in Cebu this coming April 1-3, at the Ayala Center Cebu.

The event will be bringing in the latest models of cars to the Cebuano market, with 15 participating dealers that include; BMW, Cebu Autocenter Corporation (Subaru, JMC and Suzuki), Cebu Southbay Automobiles, Inc. (Mazda), Dearbon Motors Co. (Cebu) Inc., (Ford), Fast Autoworld Philippines Inc., (Mitsubishi Motors), Gateway Motors Cebu, Inc., (KIA), Global Motors Cebu Distributors, Corp. (Chevrolet), Honda Cars Cebu, Inc., Hyundai Cebu, Inc., Isuzu Cebu, Inc., Nissan Cebu Distributors Inc., Pasajero Motors Corp. (Volvo), Toyota Cebu City, Inc.

BPI Family Savings Bank senior vice president and head for Auto and Motorcyle Loans David G. Sarmiento, Jr., said that the active automobile market in Cebu has pushed the bank to launch its nationwide “Auto Madness” series this year.

Despite the volatile price of gasoline, and the expected upward movement of interest rate, Sarmiento said the bank is confident to stimulate the appetite for auto loan interest of the consumers.

In fact, the country’s automobile industry has been growing at an encouraging rate last year, despite the jitters and effect of the global economic downturn.

This year, while the economy especially in Asia, is seen to get stronger hold, the automobile industry is also seen to ride the recovery track.

In 2010, the country’s automobile industry posted a 27 percent growth, and disposed a total of 160,000 new automobile units to the Philippine market, surpassing its highest record hit posted in 1996 with 160,000 new units sold.

Besides, the introduction of ‘fuel efficiency” features of new cars now, have also push stronger interest among Filipinos, getting SUVs and AUVs, and newer model versions.

Promising an on-the-spot auto loan approval, Sarmiento hopes to start the Auto Madness series in Cebu, with promising consumer dynamism.

From January to February this year, auto loan performance for the bank grew by 15.4 percent, compared to the same period of 2010. Industry rate in the period on the other hand, posted a growth of between six to seven percent.

Tracing its beginnings 13 years ago, Auto Madness started as a small car show in Cebu.

“We pioneered the Auto Madness 13 years ago in Cebu and from there we’ve seen its tremendous popularity among Filipino car buyers. Spurred by the enthusiasm, we replicated it on other cities and finally brought it to a national scale in 2009,” Sarmiento said.

This year’s Auto Madness will see the continuation of the “free GPS” promo to complement brand new vehicles for personal use with a minimum amount financed of P700,000 and a loan of 36 months.

“We see the continued and rising interest of Filipinos to have their own vehicles and with a passion to make it easy for them to drive the brand new vehicle of their choice. We ensure that we give them the best venue and deals every year. This year, Auto Madness goes international as we present the BPI Family Auto Madness at the 7th Manila International Auto Show,” Sarmiento added. (FREEMAN)