‘It’s been tough, but it’s getting better’

Interview by Kap Maceda Aguila

VELOCITY: How’s BMW Philippines’ supply situation like now? We know that Q1 was challenging.

SPENCER YU: It’s getting better, and we’re basically seeing signs of recovery already as far as supplies are concerned. We’re hoping for the best — that we get the cars. Supply-wise it’s been tough, but it’s really getting better.

Is the challenge more on the actual supply of units or logistics to get the units here?

BMW has made significant steps to improve the supply situation. We do have some delays in shipping and delivery, but I’ll take these compared to where we were at 12 months or even six months ago.

How are your electric models doing?

The battery electric vehicle (BEV) supply situation is also improving, and we’re anticipating significant movement toward the third quarter. We’re looking forward to that.

How has the market reception been?

We’re pleasantly surprised with the number of early adopters. In fact, you can no longer call them early adopters because the demand is now quite healthy throughout our range (the iX, iX3, and i7). I guess these put out a very good proposition. A lot of our buyers are already over this whole range anxiety business, and they’re getting more used to the thought of an electric vehicle. It shows that our market is coming to grips with it. The number of other electric vehicles available, especially in the mass market segment, shows that the Philippines is ready.

Is BMW seeing first-time buyers going straight to your BEVs right away?

It’s a combination of both. We expect that our loyal BMW customers would always like to have the latest products, but it’s also nice that first-timers of EVs are going with BMW. It shows the faith in our products and technology. That’s a very good sign for us. Maybe they’re ready to go straight to electric; maybe they’re coming to BMW because of our EVs.