TOYOTA SENDS OFF NEW TECHNICIANS TO SAUDI ARABIA
TOYOTA Motor Phils. (TMP) announced it recently held a send-off ceremony for the second batch of graduates of the TMP-ALJ Specialized Automotive Training Program (SATP) at TMP’s head office in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

The TMP-ALJ SATP is a partnership between TMP and ALJ, or Abdul Latif Jameel Co., which is Toyota’s exclusive distributor in Saudi Arabia.

The TMP-ALJ SATP began in 2010 as an 18-month training program for qualified graduates of the Toyota Technical Education Program (T-TEP) partner schools. Chosen from a stringent selection process, TMP said that successful candidates underwent extensive training on various Toyota Technician and Pro-Technician technical courses, as well as on-the-job training at Toyota dealerships.

TMP noted that just like the first batch, the second will be employed by different ALJ centers in Saudi Arabia as automotive technicians.

The company added that with the growing demand for highly skilled Filipino automotive technicians, Toyota will strengthen its partnership with ALJ by turning over this program to the new TMP School of Technology Inc. starting next year.

TMP said the school is envisioned to become a human-resource developmental hub to serve the regional and global Toyota network.

FORD NAMES WINNERS IN FOCUS’ PRE-LAUNCH CAMPAIGN
FORD Phils. has announced the winners in its consumer pre-launch campaign for the latest Focus, called the “All-New Ford Focus…Start it. Share it. Win it.”

Ford said it had delivered the contest’s grand prize, a new Focus Titanium+, to its winner in a handover ceremony held at Ford Cainta, where the other nine finalists were each given an Apple iPad.

The winner of the Focus was Maria Patriz Dumlao, a 23-year-old Information Technology professional from Quezon City. According to Ford, Dumlao received the most votes for her video capturing her reaction to the smart technologies of the all-new Focus.

More than 1,500 votes were cast for the top 10 finalists of the campaign, Ford said.

“I am excited to bring home the new Focus and make it my daily drive,” said Dumlao. “One of the things I dread is parallel-parking, so the Focus with Active Park Assist is perfect for me. Also, I can’t wait to pair my phone with Ford Sync.”

Ford explained that the Focus’s pre-launch campaign provided a unique opportunity for customers to become part of the car’s local market launch by participating in online and on-the-ground activities over a 12-week period.

KIA SALES IN NOVEMBER 2012 MEAN STRONG YEAREND TOTAL
KIA Motors Corp. said it will likely post strong global growth in 2012 based on its sales result in November last year. Citing figures from Korea, China, North America and Europe, the carmaker said it grew 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2012 as it sold 2,497,002 vehicles worldwide.

Kia said its best-selling model was the Rio (known as K2 in China) as it sold around 37,651 units of the vehicle. Other models that performed strongly were the Kia Forte (also known as Cerato), Sportage, Optima and Sorento.

“The successful launch of the all-new Forte in the Korean market propelled Kia to its highest year-on-year monthly sales gain for the first time in 2012,” said Kia Motors Corp. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Tae-Hyun Oh. “With the increase in export and domestic sales of passenger cars, recreational and commercial vehicles, Kia Motors Corp. is looking at a promising start for 2013.”

HONDA CARS HOLDS 12TH STAGING OF TECHNICIANS’ CONTEST
HONDA Cars Phils. Inc. (HCPI), Honda’s automobile production and sales subsidiary in the Philippines, announced it recently conducted its 12th National Technicians’ Contest that was held at Honda Cars Cavite (HCCV), and which was participated in by teams from 21 dealerships nationwide.

HCPI said the contest aims to maintain the high level of satisfaction that customers have for Honda; motivate the company’s service personnel by enhancing and strengthening their individual skills on modern technology through repair techniques (technician category) and customer service and handling (service advisor category); and to further realize the value of teamwork and communication in service operation (team category).

Winners in the technician (Tech) category were Wilson Mayani from Honda Cars Shaw (champion), Reynante Nabor from Honda Cars Manila (runner-up) and Arnel Joyosa from Honda Cars Alabang (second runner-up). The top three winners in the service advisor (SA) category were Franco Manlulu 3rd from Honda Cars Shaw, Regalado Tuquero Jr. from Honda Cars Makati and Christian Betonio from Honda Cars Alabang. In the team category the champions were Joyosa and Betonio, runners-up were Dante Donato (Tech) and Marlon Entierro (SA) from Honda Cars Tarlac, and the second runners-up were Emmanuel Bago (Tech) and Howard Rosales (SA) from Honda Cars Pasig.

HCPI said that present at the contest were HCPI President and General Manager Tatsuya Natsume, HCCV President Clyde Chua, Honda Cars Makati Group Deputy Chief Manny Aligada, House of Investment President Medel Nera, HCPI Customer Service Division head Norman Millare and HCPI Customer service Advisor Hiroshi Ishida.