BMW is in a unique position right now when it comes to its product strategy. For one, the German luxury car brand is entering a hit-or-miss phase as its new vehicles proudly wear the controversial ‘lung’ grilles in place of the kidney ones. For another, its business gets significant boost from its Motorrad division.
Thankfully, BMW has the edge of marketing and selling both cars and motorcycles in our country. Think of it as the opulent counterpart of Suzuki—a company that does well in mass-market four- and two-wheel products. Honda also sells cars and motorbikes in the Philippines, but they are represented here by two different firms.
Which makes the job of BMW Philippines (SMC Asia Car Distributors Corporation) president Adrian Spencer Yu rather challenging. It’s not easy to be the head honcho of an automaker, and it’s certainly not a walk in the park to also handle the brand’s motorcycle portfolio. Let’s just say we do not envy the man.
Recently, we let our readers engage the executive by asking him some business and product questions. Watch the video to know his answers to the queries.
1. What are your thoughts about the recent trend at BMW on changing the iconic kidney grilles into the so-called lung grilles? – Karl Alejandro Resurreccion (0:14)
2. Why are BMW vehicle offerings today either on the lowest end of the spectrum (318i) or highest end of the spectrum (M340i)? Why are there no middle-tier models like the 320 or 330? And why are there no upgrade options? – Nono Felipe (0:43)
3. Are we going to see the new iX very soon? – Marc Augustus Pagulayan (1:47)
4. Given that electric will be the future of motor vehicles in the next decade or so, will there be further innovations in BMW’s internal-combustion engines or can we say that the technology has reached a plateau? – VISOR staff (2:21)
5. With lean-angle sensitive traction control and ABS increasingly becoming common among higher-end motorcycles, what do you think is the next innovation in terms of safety or handling? – VISOR staff (2:47)
6. As the GS and the F-series continue to sell very well, will there be advanced riding programs available for customers? – VISOR staff (3:38)
7. What is the possibility of the Philippine release of an e-motorcycle such as the BMW Motorrad CE04? – Geoffrey Sobrevilla (4:10)
8. Do you think that BMW might enter Philippine riders in the upcoming motorcycle races? – Geoffrey Sobrevilla (4:37)
9. Being BMW Philippines’ president, what’s your advice to small-time business owners like me—specifically during these globally trying times? – FroyGlenda Singh Tallado (5:12)
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