Considered as one of the youngest distributors of the CHERY brand in the world, the United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. (UAAGI) and CHERY Auto Philippines team aggressively bagged the 2021 Brand Breakthrough Award from CHERY International.
The CHERY Overseas Distribution Awarding Ceremony is an annual event hosted by CHERY Automobile Co. Ltd., headquartered in Wuhu, China. The event was held virtually and broadcasted to the CHERY global network composed of over 30 countries. It aims to recognize the global distributors achieving excellence in performance across marketing innovation, branding, product upgrade, service excellence, and network building.
“It is gratifying to see that all the hard work and efforts by the CHERY Auto Philippines team and our fast-growing nationwide network of dealers are being recognized by our principals,” said UAAGI and CHERY Auto Philippines President Rommel Sytin.
Among the CHERY global distributors including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Chile, and Egypt, only two countries—the Philippines and Brazil—received the Brand Breakthrough Award.
This is a result of CHERY Auto Philippine’s market resilience and flexibility despite the numerous setbacks that occurred since it was launched last November 2019.
Brand Breakthrough Award of UAAGi received by Asia-Pacific Country Manager Haiqi Zhang | Photo by UAAGI Press
“Just three months after our Philippine launch, the government imposed a nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We were forced to close our dealerships, yet we thought of ways on how to reach out to the Filipinos to offer CHERY,” Sytin recalled.
Before the pandemic, the eruption of the Taal Volcano also greatly affected Metro Manila and nearby regions. Before that, typhoons also destroyed businesses, which adversely decreased vehicle sales for the Philippine automotive industry by as much as 50 percent.
“It was a challenging start, but we had to prove that our brand is stronger than these hindrances,” said Sytin.
When people weren’t allowed to leave their homes, CHERY fortified its digital presence through social media, its website, and the CHERY mobile application (available on Google, App Store, and App Gallery) to make the brand more accessible.
CHERY Auto Philippines also managed to bring the brand forward through various marketing efforts like tapping actor Coco Martin as a brand ambassador, sponsoring the CHERY Tiggo Crossovers volleyball team, and establishing strong offline and online efforts through print and out-of-home advertisements.
On top of that, CHERY Auto Philippines also succeeded in establishing an 18-strong dealership expansion and executing industry-leading aftersales programs.
“The Brand Breakthrough Award for the Philippines is an indication that CHERY has been and will be striving harder. With this, we have gained more confidence that with our relentless efforts to build the brand, more and more Filipino consumers will get to know and appreciate the compelling value proposition of the CHERY Tiggo models and put more of these in their garages,” added Sytin.
“We will make CHERY the Filipinos’ car choice”
