The Velocity Q&A: ‘We’re bringing the fun back in sedans’

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Why GAC Motor Brand Head Franz Decloedt is high on the Empow

Interview by Kap Maceda Aguila

ADDRESSING the gathered media at a second-floor meeting room of the Batangas Racing Circuit in Rosario Batangas, GAC Motor Brand Head Franz Decloedt, who assumed the position just last month, was all smiles. He had just returned from a recent trip to China for an “appreciation tour” with members of the Philippine motoring media and content creators, who were afforded a better grasp and more insight into GAC brand, its operations, and the significant investment sunk into its R&D — expressed in the resulting vehicles, particularly its tech features.

But the day’s main protagonist was the Empow, a compact sedan fitted with the brand’s turbocharged 1.5-liter mill — developed in-house and featuring GAC’s so-called Megawave technology that promises more power, agility, and fuel efficiency.

Later, as participants took their turns on the track for slalom, braking, and guided laps – plus an interesting demonstration of traction control — aboard the Empow, we spoke exclusively with Mr. Decloedt about the car… and more. Here are excerpts from our interview.

VELOCITY: This is the very first track day for GAC Motor Philippines. What’s the message here? Why the timing?

FRANZ DECLOEDT: We are featuring the GAC Empow. Why now? Well, as you know, we launched the Empow eight months ago, and we felt it’s about time to really let the public know what the Empow can do. Yes, it’s a very good daily-driven car; you can use it on the road, for traffic, and stuff like that. But then it’s natural habitat — with its 174hp and 270Nm of torque, and zero-to-100kph time of under seven seconds — is here on the track.

Now, of course everyone knows, as you do, that Filipinos are really heavily into crossovers and SUVs. What are you seeing in the sedan segment that makes you confident about the Empow?

I’ll tell you this: You’re correct that we are an SUV market, and (sales in the) sedan segment have actually not been going as fast. Companies have relegated the sedan to being a practical, daily driven, fuel-efficient vehicle, which is also important. But then we grew up with sedans. Sedans have been a big part of Philippine culture. We had so much fun with sedans. I believe the GAC Empow is doing just that. It is actually bringing back the fun in sedans because it has all the things I mentioned earlier: All the power, performance, all the fun you want to enjoy in a sedan. It’s a sporty car. So I feel that actually — and I’ve heard people say this — it is, and this is also my opinion, the best sedan under P3 million. When I say that, look at the numbers, the performance, and then it’s not even close to P3 million. The entry model, which is just as good as the top of the line, is only at P1.055 million. So it’s all that value; bang for every buck that you put into it, basically.

What are you seeing in terms of market reception for the Empow since its launch? What’s the feedback you’ve gotten from buyers?

Admittedly, it could be (better), but for those who have the Empow, they are so happy with it. We’ve talked to a few of the owners and understood why they loved the car. That’s why we created this track day. The performance is amazing; the features are jampacked. I mean, it really does bring the fun back in sedans. And that’s what we wanted to do today: Let a lot more people know about it: Not only those owners who are here for track day, but of course our friends in the media so they can talk about it and share how great the Empow is.

How do you see GAC Motor as a brand competing in the Philippines? What can you say to Filipinos who have probably gotten over the negative connotation of cars being developed and made in China? If someone says, “Oh, GAC is made in China. What makes it different from the other Chinese brands which are arriving in droves?”

I love the question, because this is something we found out about more clearly in our recent trip to China (in Guangzhou). I mean, we’ve always known about it but actually, I’ve gotten more insight through that trip. Before, we had been briefed by our OEM counterparts in China that we have a lot of technology partners with the GAC brand. I’ll name them because they are GAC partners. The likes of Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Bosch — and they’re all big brands; they’re all technology partners. All the best of these brands go into a GAC car, which makes it great already, if you look at it. But then we asked that question during our China trip, and the answer came from the vice-president of research and development, Zhang Fan, who is actually a product of Mercedes-Benz training. So, the question went, “Are GACs made from all of these brands?” And the answer was simple: No, nothing. None of the components, none of the elements of OEM partners go into a GAC. But, he did say that all of the elements that are going to GMC are a better version. They built on them, they made them better, they made improvements. And you can see this better quality in our vehicles.