S P E C I A L     :     I N D U S T R Y    R E P O R T

In all our living memory (about 20 years, in our case), BMW had been cars to turn heads and cause a distinct sensation churning in one’s stomach.  The beady-eyed glare accompanied by the growl from those engines could indeed stoke one’s desires.  However, the 1980s German car scene was dominated by the Mercedes and the Opels, with just a smattering of BMWs.  Their relative rarity helped make them even more desirable, though service and parts from the previous distributor were reportedly expensive, in both money and time. 

When the car industry began to boom in the 1990s, particularly for the prestige European brands, BMW was quick to assert its presence here.  Assembly rights were awarded to Asian Carmakers Corporation, in its Bicutan, Metro Manila plant.  The 3 and 5 series shared the plant with Subaru wagons, Mazda sedans and Kia hatchbacks.  Dealerships were set up in several locations within Metro Manila.   One problem was that some dealers displayed the BMWs right next to their Japanese littermates.  The general public knew who assembled the German cars, and stories flew—at least several true—about overheating engines and interior bits falling apart.  Many 3 series drove around the Metro with water sloshing around in their taillight lenses. 

The boom years soon ended, and many luxury marques were forced to rethink their strategies to survive.  Audi picked the wrong dealer and all but disappeared from the market.  Volvo closed some dealerships but continued to bring in new models. Mercedes came with all guns blazing, bringing in the complete range, from A to M to V class. 

BMW hasn’t been lounging around, either.  In 2001 the German principals decided to take over the assembly themselves, to improve real and perceived quality, and perhaps give the buyers what they deserved.   BMW is still using the old plant for now, but reportedly have knuckled down and drastically improved build quality.  The long-awaited 3-series sedan was released, with choice of inline-4 or inline-6 engines.  A splash of newspaper ads heralded the re-launch of the marque, one of the ads featuring  not a hot new car, but a smiling Filipina girl, to say that BMW cares most about the people.  A new approach indeed.  Not to worry, though; hot cars soon followed. 

Indeed, the 3-series lineup was soon completed, with Touring, Coupe and Convertible flanking the sedan in the showrooms.   The 523i soldiers on, still unchanged but for new financing schemes to cushion the initial cost of ownership. The Z3 gets a 2.2 liter inline-6 engine to boost its performance.  According to Ms. Cynthia Mangahas, Corporate Communications Manager for BMW-Prestige Cars Libis, this is only the beginning.

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