Interview by Kap Maceda Aguila
VELOCITY: Is the supply situation back to normal now?
FRANKIE ANG: It’s getting incrementally better. We’re not yet where we were in 2019, but it’s definitely better than last year. We’re not seeing this (improvement) across the board — some production countries are doing better than others — but generally speaking, it’s better than last year.
We hear that the GLC comes from Bremen in Germany.
Yes, the launch had been delayed also because of production problems, so we’re quite happy to finally be able to introduce this car. The stocks are finally starting to come in. We didn’t want to launch a car when we didn’t have the inventory to fulfill the demand of the market.
We also heard that the demand for the GLC is quite good, and the incoming units are already spoken for.
It is the most popular model of Mercedes-Benz globally, with 2.6 million already sold worldwide since its initial release. In the Philippines, we’ve sold just under a thousand cars since we launched the GLC in 2009.
This has a mild hybrid system. Is it the first time for this model to have that? In addition, what are the aspirations of Mercedes-Benz Philippines with regard to hybrids and electrified vehicles in general?
The mild hybrid technology, as usual, first debuted for us in the S-Class, and it’s been several years that the brand has been playing around with various versions of the technology. For the GLC, this is the first time that the mild hybrid technology is being introduced. In terms of overall electrification, I think we’ll see a lot more development toward the end of this year. That’s something to get excited about.
To clarify, when you say “development” that means more models coming in, more electrified models coming in?
More of everything — something to keep the suspense going and to make sure that the brand stays top of mind for more people. We’ll come into the market in a big way before the year ends.