Those somewhat familiar with the auto industry likely know that several auto brands have a common parent. For instance, there’s General Motors, which owns Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac. Across the pond, Volkswagen Auto Group (VAG) owns the brands Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Skoda, Seat, and even Ducati motorcycles. These are just a few of the many large automotive families in the world.
However, did you know that there are also similar family trees in the Philippines? While companies in the Philippines don’t own shares in these global companies, they do own the rights to distribute these brands locally. The local alignment doesn’t change their relationships between one another on a global scale. However, don’t expect to be able to ask about a Volkswagen when you enter an Audi showroom in the Philippines. They may come from the same family abroad, but locally, they may as well be unrelated.
As the exclusive distributors, these companies are in charge of marketing and promoting the said automotive brand in the country. They are also in charge of building and maintaining a dealer and service network. The distributor determines the direction the brand will take in the country, as well as report to the headquarters its regular progress. In turn, the distributor is made the exclusive importer of vehicles and custodian of the brand, acting as the brand’s official representative and in charge of bringing in cars, parts, and paraphernalia for all its dealers. No other companies are allowed to import, sell, or service the vehicle while using the brand name unless authorized by the distributor. While the exclusivity granted is very lucrative, in case the distributor underperforms, the global HQ does have the authority to revoke distributorship and assign it to another.
In this chart below, we enlighten you about some of the companies that distribute these well-known brands. Some of the country’s top auto brands are controlled by companies (and families) that have multiple other brands too. We'll mainly focus on those with multiple interests in the automotive industry.
You might already be aware of a few, such as GT Capital (Metrobank Group) owning Toyota and Lexus distribution in the Philippines, or Ayala Corp.’s broad stable, through its mobility subsidiary, ACMobility. There are a couple of new ones too, such as UK-based distributor, Inchcape, and several others you might not have known about.
Car companies also change authorized distributors more frequently than you think, so it can be difficult to keep track of. For now though, this is what the Philippine automotive landscape looks at the time of writing.
To learn more about the history of some of these distributor groups as well as some of their other business interests, check out our previous story on The big companies behind the Philippines' top auto brands.