CATS Group of Companies, the leading distributor of luxury vehicles in the Philippines, plans to introduce electronic vehicles across brands following its partnership with British automotive distributor Inchcape Plc., top executives said Wednesday.
CATS Group chief operating officer Frankie Ang said in a news briefing that bringing electric vehicles to the local market “is part of the plan.”
He did not provide the timetable for the introduction of EVs in the market, as the first one-and-a-half years of the partnership would focus on integration of businesses. “It is part of the plan, and all of the brands have plans to do so,” Ang said.
“In certain segments, the market is ripe [for EVs]. Over the past year, we have been hearing a lot of demand from our customers, and we will react to that demand,” Ang said.
Ang said affordability, environmental conservation and infrastructure would be the major factors that would drive demand for EVs in the country.
Ruslan Kinebas, Inchcape’s chief executive for Asia-Pacific, said the joint venture would be able to effectively compete in the EV market in the Philippines, given its portfolio of OEMs (original equipment manufacturer).
Inchcape on Tuesday announced that had signed an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in CATS. The agreement is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.
CATS Group, founded by businessman Felix Ang in 1989 as car accessories, tires and service center business, has grown to become the leader in premium vehicle distribution and the biggest one-stop shop luxury passenger vehicle center in the Philippines.
Since 2003, 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 set up a supporting dealership network.
It also has dealerships for Mazda and Harley Davidson motorcycles.
Ang said CATS Group has for 35-percent market share of the domestic luxury vehicle market.
Ang said, however, the group’s sales remained affected by the global supply chain problems.
“By far, the demand has so far outstripped the supply, We’ve had difficulty in supplying sales to a lot of our customers, and we have a very long waiting list,” he said.
Ang said that despite the supply problems, the group planned to introduce new models that are competitive and would provide growth opportunities. Jenniffer B. Austria