The newly-forged joint venture of the Ang family-owned CATS Group of Companies and leading global multi-brand luxury car distributor Inchcape Plc expects to regain market leadership in the luxury car segment in the Philippines in 2024 when global supply chain finally normalizes.

Francis Jonathan C. Ang, chief operating officer of the yet to be named 60-40 joint venture in favor of Inchcape, said that growth will be supported with the introduction of new models in their portfolio of luxury brands this year.

“We are bringing in several new models this year we feel we will be very competitive that will provide growth opportunities for us. All brands will have something to introduce,” Ang told reporters covering the press conference for the joint venture. He, however, reserved the opportunity for the joint venture to announce the new models although he also said that introducing electric vehicles is part of the plan.

Last year, CATS captured 35 percent market share of luxury segment, a flat from 2021. Ang said they used to be number one in the luxury car segment for Mercedes Benz, but the pandemic has hampered global supply.

By far, he said, demand has been outstripping supply making it difficult for them to supply lots of orders from its customers. In fact, they have order backlog of as far back as 12 months.

“We hope to regain leadership,” he said but stressed they cannot control the supply situation, as this is more in the hands of their principals. “But we hope to bring to where we are before the pandemic but the expectation is closer to 2024 when the whole situation normalizes,” he added.

The luxury brand segment in the Philippines has always been higher than the mass market.

Ruslan Kinebas, Inchcape APAC CEO, noted that the local automotive sector is expected to grow by 11 percent or 500,000-unit sales this year, but the luxury brand is expected to grow a lot faster.

Kinebas cited the joint venture as “very powerful combination for customers” and an “opportunity for us to create a growth platform” in the Philippines.

Confident about the joint venture’s future, Kinebas said they will always be guided by consumer needs and requirements of the market.

Alex Hammett, Inchcape Managing director Southeast Asia & Pacific, called their partnership very strong and further strengthens Inchcape, which operates in 40 different complex markets globally.

The joint venture, which completion is expected in the second half this year, will add 120 million pounds in revenues to Inchcape.

Currently, CATS has six branches in Metro Manila with very strategic properties. Hammet said they are going to review the investments and invest further where they see growth. Inchcape also held meetings with the over 1,000 employees of CATS to show that their entry will add value to the company and growth to workers.

Felix Ang, founder and CEO of CATS and director of the joint venture, also cited the partnership as very strategic and a good synergy with CATS being the Philippines leading luxury multibrand distributor and Inchcape as the leading global independent luxury multi brand distributor.

Ang cited Inchcape’s strong data and IT infrastructure as one reason for CATS in the joint venture. He said the IT infrastructure as very important and long-standing partnership with OEMs as big advantage for both.

Gregorio T. Yu, chairman of CATS, said they had been approached by other groups for joint venture but they turned them away. But their existing partnership with Inchcape has made it more convenient to discuss partnerships especially during the pandemic. He described the joint venture with Inchcape as a “very good fit”.

Ang founded CATS in 1989 as a car accessories, tires, and service center business, CATS has grown to become the leader in premium vehicle distribution and biggest one-stop shop luxury passenger vehicle center in the country with a core purpose and mission to fulfill the aspirations of its customers to own the car of their dreams.

Since 2004, CATS has been a distributor for Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram. In 2017 it became the Jaguar and Land Rover distributor for the Philippines and has set up a supporting dealership network. It also has dealerships for Mazda and Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

Inchcape APAC has since expanded significantly across the region and today distributes new vehicles and parts in Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Guam, Macau, New Zealand, Saipan, Singapore and Thailand for a large portfolio of OEM brands: Toyota Motor Corporation, Subaru, Suzuki, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW Group, Chevrolet, Great Wall Motor, Peugeot Citroen, Harley-Davidson, Daimler Trucks and Buses, Hino and other commercial vehicle partners. In 2021, Inchcape opened a Digital Delivery Centre in the Philippines, providing digital and data analytics support and insights for the Group. Inchcape APAC is headquartered in Singapore and employs around 3,400 people across the region.