Legado Motors is one of the newest players in the country’s competitive automotive industry, but, apart from offering Filipinos a range of cutting-edge and highly coveted Dongfeng hybrids and EVs, it has several aces up its sleeve, including a young deputy CEO brimming with fresh, out-of-the-box ideas.
By ALEX Y. VERGARA
How does one define legacy? Legado Motors Inc., exclusive distributors of Chinese-made Dongfeng cars in the Philippines, including a wide range of cutting-edge electric vehicles (EVs), is just one among many local companies providing Filipinos with quality vehicles. But the word “legado” itself, Spanish for “legacy”, is, in many ways, symbolic of what the company stands for: to provide real, viable and long-term solutions to its customers’ mobility needs while being mindful of the environment and the planet’s future.
Legacy can also be viewed both as a treasure trove of material possessions and life lessons that are being passed on from one generation to the next, as the company, which formally opened its doors for business last year and did a relaunch several months ago, is under the stewardship of the Singson and Lim families — former Ilocos Sur Gov. and Narvacan Mayor Luis “Chavit” Singson, his daughter Regina and husband Wilbert Lim, and their first-born son Brennan Singson Lim. As a member of the third generation in a family enterprise that now has a growing nationwide presence, Brennan has assumed the role of deputy CEO.
“Our initial target is to grow by 50 percent during our first year and another 50 percent the following year,” Brennan, 33, starts off. “We aim, for instance, to double the number of dealerships to 12 by the end of the year.”
Growth in sales and the number of dealerships would also depend on the number of new Dongfeng models coming in. “What’s important is our introduction of five models with seven variants,” he adds.
Apart from the company-owned flagship dealership in the Ortigas area (located in Metrowalk), the rest of the other Dongfeng dealerships are independent companies, which Brennan and his colleagues at Legado believe are in a better position to penetrate their area of responsibility. Since it wants its dealers to also have an easier time selling cars and, in the process, adding to their bottom lines, Legado remains judicious in appointing new dealers.
“If they’re too many and too close to each other, these dealers would only end up competing with one another,” he reasons.
A lover of cars ever since his Ateneo de Manila University days, Brennan, under the guidance of seasoned automotive industry veterans such as lawyer Albert Arcilla, Legado Motors’ managing director, is himself a symbol of the nation’s new generation of leaders with an eye out on the future.
“I’m like a sponge, trying to learn as much as I can from Attorney (Arcilla) and other industry veterans,” he admits. “At the same time, I’d like to believe that I’m giving the company a fresher, more modern take when it comes to, say, differentiating our target markets for each vehicle, down to specific pricing strategies.”
Under the Dongfeng umbrella, Legado Motors carries six brands that each cater to a particular market segment: the compact Nanobox and Nammi; the “everyday” car Forthing; the upscale Aeolous and Voyah; and the offroad SUV Mhero. Most of these brands offer three car variants: the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine or ICE, hybrid and EV.
“At its most basic, a car is a means to get you from point A to point B safely,” says Brennan. “But it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun riding one.”
As an extension of your personality and lifestyle, one’s car can also be a source of pride and a statement to the world, the Management graduate with a minor in International Studies adds. And for people who not only care for the environment, but whose sights are set on the future, Legado offers a wide range of eco-friendly hybrids and EVs to choose from. A fully charged Nanobox, one of its most affordable offerings, for instance, has a 330-kilometer range and three-hour charging time once plugged into a standard charging station.
At the same time, Brennan also addresses certain valid concerns that are stopping a good number of Filipinos from making the big switch from an ICE-powered car to a hybrid or even a full EV.
“Honestly, there are not that many charging stations yet in the country,” he admits. “But the number is steadily climbing. That’s why we give those who opt for EVs their own chargers, which they can easily plug in an aircon outlet at home.”
Compared to the three-hour charging time in a charging station, it takes around eight hours to fully charge an EV at home. Like a cellphone, the car can be charged by the owner at night while he or she sleeps.
As for performance, Brennan, after test-driving a Forthing Friday crossover from Manila to Vigan, vouches for the EV’s power (hatak) and speed on the road. It took him and his team eight hours, including meal and restroom breaks, to reach his “Papang’s” (his term of endearment for his Lolo Chavit) hometown.
“Since the hatak is exceptional, you don’t need to carefully time or plan when you need to overtake,” he says. “The drive is so smooth that you hardly feel any vibration. Not only do you hear the music better, at the end of the day, you’re not as tired compared to driving a conventional gas-powered car.”
He also debunked certain misconceptions that an EV’s battery, once it’s drained, is almost as expensive as the total price of the car itself. In the first place, since an EV’s battery is divided into sections, you only need to replace one section at a time depending on which section needs to be changed.
“You don’t have to change the whole thing,” he assures. “Changing one section of the battery at a time could set you back by P12,000 to P15,000. Still quite manageable.”
And unlike a car which runs on ICE, an EV doesn’t require quarterly and even semi-annual maintenance checks. There are no spark plugs, transmission, clutch and expensive change oil to attend to.
“At the most, you only have to bring an EV for servicing once a year, and we have a more-than-adequate number of service centers to do that,” Brennan adds. “You only need to look after brake pads and suspension, which you don’t have to change every year.”
He then cites a study Legado did comparing an ICE-powered car with an EV in terms of power consumption. While you need to cough up, say, P60,000 annually (at P60 per litter of gasoline) to drive 100,000 kilometers, you only spend P13,000 on an EV (1 kilowatt hour costs around P13) annually to cover the same distance.
“That’s roughly P47,000 worth of savings per year,” he says.
And in a move to encourage more families to buy or switch to hybrids and EVs, the Department of Energy (DOE) has amended the vehicle volume reduction scheme in Metro Manila by exempting non- ICE-powered cars from the number-coding regulation.
“All you need is to apply for an exemption from the DOE, and once it’s approved, you’re now exempted,” Brennan informs. “To ensure that you won’t get flagged down by traffic enforcers, they’re now issuing green-colored license plates to EVs and hybrids.”
Of course, the bottom line for every business venture, including Legado’s, is to boost its sales. But to a young father like Brennan who’s still raising two kids, five-year-old Elizabeth Harper and 18-month-old Nicholas Reuben, with his wife Danielle, there’s more to just convincing Filipinos to eventually switch from ICE to hybrids and EVs.
“EVs are more for our environment, and I take that seriously. More so now because I still have two small children. Like other parents, I want to pass on to them a world that’s clean, livable and breathable,” he says. Consider that, too, as Brennan’s own legacy to future generations.
Photography by MARK CHESTER ANG
Grooming by KLENG TOTANES
