Gencars , Inc .
BATANGAS
POPEMOBILE GEN
GRAND OPENING
Gencars Batangas City opens
L
EADING automotive dealership Gencars Inc. extends its reach to more areas as it opens today a new branch in Batangas City, bringing to the bustling port city in the Southern Tagalog Isuzu’s dependable and strong diesel-powered cars, vans, trucks and other vehicles, as well as its well-known quality automotive service. Gencars Batangas City, the sixth in the Gencars group of dealerships, is on a one-hectare lot which is part of the 2.5-hectare Batangas City Grand Terminal property on Diversion Road, Alangilan, Batangas City. The place is known as Automotive Row in the province of Batangas for being the home of several major automotive vehicle manufacturers. With this expansion south of Metro Manila, Gencars affirms its confidence in the country’s sustained economic
growth, which international financial institutions predict will be better compared to other Asian economies. “We have faith that, with the country’s improving economy, the outlook is very promising for setting up a new dealership, especially in such a prosperous and progressive place as Batangas City and the province of Batangas as a whole,” said D. Edgard A. Cabangon, Gencars’s managing director. The opening of its sixth dealership
comes less than two months before Gencars celebrates its 38th anniversary. The dealership was conceptualized and established by Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, founder, on October 16, 1978. Since then, it has proven to be a leading franchised dealer on which Isuzu Philippines Corp. (IPC) relies for its Philippine operations, providing high-quality service and maintaining brisk sales for IPC. The newest dealership is the second in the province of Batangas for Gencars. It opened Gencars Batangas in 1996 as its second dealership, following the first ever branch in Makati. This second dealership is on a 5,884 square meter lot at the Crossing of barangay San Roque in Sto. Tomas town. The dealership provides for the vehicle requirements and the motoring service needs of motor vehicle owners residing in the Southern Tagalog, which includes Calamba, Batangas, Lucena, Mindoro and Bicol. Gencars San Pablo City, the company’s third outlet which started its operations on November 17, 2000, is situated on a 1,070 square meter piece of land along Colago Avenue, Barangay 1-A, San Pablo City, Laguna. This third dealership caters to the brand-new vehicle requirements, as well as the vehicle-service needs of Isuzu vehicle owners in Laguna, Quezon Province and the Bicol Region.
Gencars established its fourth outlet, Gencars Legazpi, on July 17, 2006 on the Ground Floor, ALC Fortune Building, J. P. Rizal Street, Legazpi Port District, Legazpi City, Albay. A fifth outlet, Gencars Naga, opened on August 8, 2008 at Km. 443 Maharlika Highway, Brgy. Palestina Pili, Camarines Sur. Both outlets serve the motoring needs of major establishments in Bicolandia that require an improved mode of transport with modern facilities for after-sales service and parts. Like the head office distributorship in Makati as well as the others outside Metro Manila, Gencars Batangas City has a large showroom that can accommodate several big trucks and cars. It also has a Parts and Services section that will provide motorists in Batangas City and nearby places with Isuzu’s quality parts and services. A huge service bay can accommodate a number of trucks, while its Service unit is equipped with the most modern automotive repair and maintenance technology and manned by dedicated and well-trained mechanics and technicians that meet all motoring needs. It renders services, such as general repairs, periodic maintenance service, under-chassis and wheel alignment, aircon jobs, diagnosis and many others.
G
ENCARS, Inc., as a leading provider of top-quality vehicles in the country, has a long list of awards to prove its reliability and excellence in terms of products and services. But the company’s most shining moment came last year when it provided the Popemobile used by Pope Francis in going around Manila during his January visit. It was an opportunity for Gencars to show not only the whole country but also the entire world its brilliance and expertise. The company donated the Isuzu D-Max unit that was customized with the help of Almazora Motors to meet strict Vatican standards, and at the same time add a Pinoy touch to its overall design.“We considered it a great privilege and a blessing to be asked to build the Popemobile. We were able to
How Gencars came about G
ENCARS Inc. was conceptualized and established on October 16, 1978 by Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua as an automotive dealership to serve the development needs of the nation. According to his biography, A Saga of Success, written by National Artist Nick Joaquin, Gencars was one of three companies that he was proudest of at that time of the late 1970s. The other two were Fortune Insurance and Eternal Gardens. The book narrates that Gencars came into being when several of his colleagues in the military (he was
a colonel in the reserve force) asked him to organize a company that they could invest in. “Many of them were generals and because of them, I decided to call our company General Cars, or Gencars,” the founder recalled. The very first dealership opened on a one-hectare lot at the corner of Chino Roces Avenue (also still known by its former name Pasong Tamo) and De La Rosa Streets in Makati’s barangay Pio del Pilar. On this location, Gencars began as a franchised dealer of General Motors Philippines, a partnership of
General Motors of the United States and Isuzu of Japan. The partnership introduced the Isuzu brand in the country through its trucks in the 1950s. These were much in demand to meet post-war development needs. By September of 1985, General Motors Philippines shut down because of the prevailing political chaos in the country at that time. The ambassador, never running out of hope, banked on the expectation that Isuzu would buy the majority stock of GM Philippines, enabling Gencars to continue selling, this time vehicles from Japanese manufacturers.
Time proved him right. The year 1989 marked the rebirth of Isuzu Motors Pilipinas Inc. Gencars Inc., formerly a franchised dealer of General Motors Philippines Inc. (GMPI) for Isuzu Gemini and Opel cars, again became one of its franchised dealers. An offer from Sime Darby Philippines in 1994 to become tire distributor paved the way for the establishment of the Gencars Building, which now houses the sales and administrative offices of Gencars Makati. In 1997 the company adopted the trade name Isuzu Makati, retaining Gencars Inc. as its corporate name. This
change in name further binds Gencars Inc. to the image of strength and dependability, precisely the qualities that customers count on for their Isuzu vehicles. In its nearly 40 years of operation, Gencars has been recognized several times for its high-quality service and outstanding sales performance. In March 2005, IPC conferred the first ever Dealer of the Year Award to Gencars Makati for its outstanding performance for the year 2004. After once again performing exceptionally in 2005, Gencars Makati was once again named Dealer of the Year by IPC in 2006, making it the first back to back Dealer of the Year