After several media outlets preempted an official announcement from Astara Philippines, GAC’s exclusive Philippine distributor, it left stakeholders, dealers, and even customers scrambling for answers. Even GAC China itself got into the act, releasing an official statement.
In a social media post, GAC has, in so many words, confirmed that GAC International Philippines, the directly run subsidiary entity setup to sell the Aion sub-brand, will now absorb the exclusive distributorship of GAC in the country as well.
At the helm of GAC International Philippines is Calvin Cheng (General Manager), Reginald Go See (Chief Brand Officer), and Lincoln Lan (Head of Sales and Marketing).
Moreover, GAC and GAC International Philippines are working together with Astara Philippines to ensure a smooth transition. Warranty services, aftersales support, and parts guarantee remain fully guaranteed says GAC through the GAC dealership network.
GAC has also confirmed that they are preparing to introduce its next-generation vehicles including more hybrids and EVs, while also exploring more opportunities to bring more GAC Group brands into the market.
Read their official statement in full below:
GAC International Philippines, Inc. acknowledges the recent news regarding developments within Astara Philippines. We respect Astara’s business decisions and appreciate their support in growing GAC’s presence in the country.For its part, Astara Philippines has yet to release an official statement. However, based on their tone and candor, suffice to say that they are pissed off stating that discussions are still ongoing regarding the transition. That could mean that some media people, not that they need it, won’t be receiving any Christmas baskets this year, or maybe, ever.
The Philippines remains a priority market for GAC Group. With strong global momentum in intelligent mobility, hybrid and EV technologies, our commitment to Filipino customers continues to deepen through the establishment of GAC International Philippines, Inc.
We are preparing to introduce a new line-up of next-generation vehicles—including the latest hybrid and EV products—while exploring opportunities to bring more GAC Group brands into the local market. At the same time, we are strengthening operations through improved processes, enhanced dealer support, and the development of a dedicated parts warehouse to significantly boost parts availability and service efficiency.
We continue coordinating closely with Astara Philippines and our dealer network to ensure smooth transition. Warranty services, aftersales support, and parts availability remain fully guaranteed. All authorized GAC dealerships are operating normally and remain ready to assist customers. Further updates will be shared in due course.
Regardless of what brand is involved, journalists/media should always be considerate in such matters.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see GAC is opening their own office in the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteEmpow Hybrid,M8 PHEV,GS8 Hybrid and E8 PHEV are the new NEV vehicles that GAC International Philippines are gonna start selling in the Philippine market next year.
Astara Philippines is closing down and leaving the Philippine market starting January 2026..
Where are you getting the part about Astara leaving the local market entirely? They had several articles here the past few months talking about building up their operations and ending the year on a strong note.
DeleteBased on sales figures GAC not doing well
DeleteAstara Philippines is closing down on January 2026.
DeleteThey've lost GAC to its mother company and they know JMC and JMC can't match the success of GAC as evident with the very low sales volume of JMC and JAC vehicles of Astara Philippines.
Peugeot is likely to be taken by Inchcape or Stellantis will open their own vehicle distribution business in the Philippines with Peugeot,Leapmotor,Dodge,RAM and Jeep under their management.
@anon Nov 22 3:23 PM
DeleteIt's not as simple as that. It's not some kariderya that you give up on after a year of bad sales. These businesses aren't working on the principle of 'rolling' on limited money. They can go years in the red in an effort to correct their situation (if it's worth it to them, of course).
Now, as a distributor, sure, if things go very poorly they can choose to drop a brand and stop being the distributor (especially if there are disagreements on how to best handle the market).
But, again, it would be incredibly unlikely that a bad year would prompt a complete exit of the market for a company like that.
Not that it's impossible but it would take a lot more bad stuff happening in the background to be true (and we don't know that).
6:12 PM
DeleteI doubt that Stellantis would even attempt to disrupt what Inchcape has already established here considering that it is also struggling in other countries. Astara approaching Inchcape to handle Peugeot is in the realm of possibility though. Seeing as they also handle other Stellantis marques adding Peugeot is the most logical thing to do.
Sales of Jeep,Dodge and RAM vehicles under Inchcape Philippines are massively down due to Inchcape refuse to sell Stellantis vehicles at affordable prices.
DeleteStellantis Malaysia is likely deliberately sabotaging Astara's Peugeot operations in the Philippines by not sending enough parts and not bringing in newer vehicles as Stellantis wants to directly control the operations and sales of Peugeot in the Philippines without Astara in it.
Stellantis wants to do a Ford like local operations in the Philippines .
GWM is likely gonna separate from Luxuriat in 2 to 3 years time.
ReplyDeleteGeely,MG and now GAC learned that the only way to beat BYD and match the sales of Japanese,American and Korean car brands is by setting up their own vehicle distribution offices and business in the Philippine market that they directly control. .
Ah basta ,ang pinaka Importante sa lahat ay Wala na si CHAVIT SINGSON sa GAC Group .Kaya Ayaw namin lahat bumili noon .Pero ngayon Pwedeng pwde na ! So bili na po lahat sa GAC at Aion brands .Makasisiguro na kayo!! 👍👍
ReplyDeleteChavit Singson's family still owns Legado Motors which still operates a GAC car dealership in Pasig together with Dongfeng that his family locally distributes.
DeleteFirst MG (TCCI) and Geely (SGAP) taken over by a direct subsidiary from China. Now GAC. (Copied business strategy). I wont be surprise if 2 to 3 years time BYD will also be taken and controlled by a chinese company in the philippines. Good luck AC mobility. Chinese car companies usually wont renew it's distibutorship agreement (strategy) after a local distributor established a strong network and that is for sure. Let's wait and see. Also, BYD phil already established their office here, a direct subsidiary from China setting up it's operation (Early bird). While for now, AC mobility is handling the distribution, it wont take long before BYD Philippine take over. AC mobility be ready.
ReplyDeleteBYD prefer using the vast money,strong influence,good marketing strategists and industry experience of Ayala Group instead of going solo in the Philippine market.
DeleteBYD is mostly the one that decide what vehicles they want to sell in the Philippine market..They're also the ones that dictate the MSRPs of their local vehicle lineup.
Difference is the number of sales. It's completely understandable that the main company might choose to take over if they are unhappy with locally-led performance.
DeleteIt’s always the same story with these Chinese car companies scrambling around like they have no idea what they’re doing. The instability practically screams at you.
ReplyDeleteAs if Japanese car brands's operations went all smoothly and stable in the Philippines 😂
DeleteMazda's local vehicle distribution business was handled by multiple groups and owners (FMC,Columbian Motors and FGP) until it landed to Malaysian group Berjaya 😂
Subaru used to be locally distributed by Columbian Motors,GM Motors Philippines and now Motor Image.😂
Placing the blame on the main company is ironic given that the Filipino led companies are the ones mostly responsible for their current state.
DeleteThe Filipino media here is also at fault for dropping the story before the entities concerned have even finished talking so kulang preparedness to answer questions dahil hindi pa finalized ang details.
If it looks like a bad cook worked on it that's because your looking at it too early in the process.
Mas maganda direct subsidiary na ng china car brands ang distributor para mas mura.
ReplyDeleteIf you're thinking this is gonna give us China market prices then just, please, stop.
DeleteWe're not going to be getting the same prices because Filipinos are willing to pay more for a simple car whereas Chinese buyers are picky and less likely to pay that kind of price for the kinds of cars we have here.
Companies aren't just going to give us super cheap cars if we're going to open our wallets anyway. Things are already getting cheaper because of the competition so that's good for us. It may even get cheaper in the future but not rock bottom prices like in China 😅
LOL Wala naman nagsabi na maging katulad ng presyo sa china. Ang sinabi magiging mura kasi di na dadaaan sa another layer na ph distributor. Gaya ng byd pag di na dumaan sa AC baba ang presyo. Your thinking and assuming so much🤤🤤🤤 but it seems your mouth is faster than your brain
Delete@anon Nov 26 9:38 am
DeleteWhat a childish response.
The qualifier "IF" at the start of the first sentence is there for a reason.
Is it wrong to guess that the assumption I made about the expectation of China-like prices was the direction/implication of your statement kasi ganun nmn palagi kino-comment kapag ganito ang usapan?
Kung mali ako sa assumption then mali ang assumption ko, pero at least decente ang pag communicate ko ng idea ko. Hindi ka siguro nasanay mag discussion ng walang personalan, no? Tsk tsk tsk. 🫤