1st MINI pop-up store opens in Cebu City

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – MINI Philippines and Autohub Group opened its first MINI pop-up store at its MINI AutoStudio Cebu along N. Escario St., Cebu City on February 11 to bring the ‘posh car experience’ closer to its market amid the pandemic.

Mini Philippines general manager Jefferson Lizardo said that it was very challenging for them to open this MINI AutoHub here in Cebu during this time but “we believe in the brand and that people would go and get it.”

 “Expect from the showroom a lounge area, bay area, showroom and quick service area.  This is definitely good for our customers and for our brand,” Lizardo added.  The team is very optimistic that after the pandemic expansion in the country is one on the books and the MINI is one of the luxury brands that the team offers, he added.

According to Willy Tee Ten, president of Autohub Group and Mini Philippines that this is an exciting new beginning for Mini Cebu because it was not easy to build and open a store during these challenging times.

Mini Philippines will continue to give the automotive market the excitement through our Mini model line-up this year. We will continue to innovate and make our services available with just one click,” Ten said.

“We would like to bring the brand to people where they are, and we are looking at expansion towards the Visayas and Mindanao areas especially in Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and in Davao City and in other cities we are studying to expand,” Pancho Luzuriaga, president of Mini Autostudio Cebu bared.

As far as sales performance is concerned, Lizardo revealed that in 2020 sales were not as good as expected but they were okay with 35 percent of sustaining its sales compared to other brands in terms of luxury vehicles.

According to Lizardo that the main outlook today is to provide the better facilities for its customers via its MINI AutoStudio hub while waiting for the completion of its building and main hub/showroom in Busay, Cebu City.

“Our goal here, especially for this lockdown, we would like to bring the excitement of the brand to the customers and MINI is one thing that makes Filipinos happy fun and excitement, the core values of MINI,” Lizardo said.