Geely PH wants Emgrand for taxi, ride-sharing services

As the first sedan in Geely Philippines’ model lineup, the Emgrand already has certain expectations to meet, chief of these being a target of 3,000 units sold for 2022. Another goal of the automaker is to make the subcompact sedan an ubiquitous presence on the road by encouraging its use in taxi and transport network vehicle service (TNVS) fleets. 

Speaking at the Emgrand’s online launch last February 25, Sojitz G Auto Philippines (SGAP) Deputy General Manager for Marketing MJ Del Pilar said that the Emgrand is set to fulfill a variety of roles for the market. 

“When we did the study and all the research that we conducted for the Emgrand, we considered all possible customer segments,” he explained. “That includes also corporate fleet accounts and also taxi companies and TNVS companies such as Grab, so that we are able to serve and satisfy basically all the segments that are familiar and who would like to choose this segment of the passenger car segment.” 

The Emgrand's generous trunk should have no problem carrying luggage and other cargo

This was seconded by SGAP General Manager for Sales & Marketing Froilan Dytianquin, who is counting on the model’s pricing as one of its strong points. “I believe that the TNVS is one market that we’re looking at, and we believe that the Filipino deserves a better vehicle, especially for this Grab market,” he noted.

“Given the pricing competitiveness of the Emgrand, I believe we can also tap this TNVS market, and most of them are probably looking for a replacement already, so probably we’re in a good time to offer the Emgrand this year.”

Geely Philippines is reportedly testing the waters for a base Emgrand variant

At launch, the Emgrand comes in the Comfort and Premium trim levels priced at Php 798,000 and Php 908,000, respectively. SGAP is eager to demonstrate the model’s versatility to customers, and one feature that could prove advantageous in this regard is the 60:40 split-fold rear seats complementing the Emgrand’s 500-liter trunk space.    

“Actually there’s no restriction for the Emgrand…if the taxi companies would like to purchase these cars and use (them) as taxis,” Dytianquin said. “But right now we’re also studying a base model which can be used specifically for taxi use. That one will probably come later as we study the market demand.”            

Find out more about what the latest car models can do at Philkotse.com.