Volkswagen and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON) are said to be close to signing off a dealership deal for the distribution of Volkswagen cars in Malaysia by the latter company. EON had originally been in talks with Volkswagen back in 2002, but something came out of it as Volkswagen started talks with Proton on a partnership. Since nothing came out of the Proton-VW talks, Volkswagen has been talking to other Malaysian companies on distributorships.
Volkswagen has already investment in a HQ in Malaysia, and was set to start selling cars but it had to delay it’s plans due to the new NAP which tax brackets made Volkswagen cars uncompetitive here in Malaysia. EON is already distributing one of Volkswagen’s marques – Audi, which is handled by EON subsidiary Euromobil. The other Volkswagen marque in Malaysia is Skoda, which is distributed by Quasar Carriage Sdn Bhd.
Volkswagen has also been in talks with Cycle & Carriage Bintang for a superdealer agreement, so I am not sure how the pieces of the puzzle fit together with both EON and Cycle & Carriage Bintang in the picture. There is also someone else with a slice of the Volkswagen pie – AutoStadt Asia Sdn Bhd which hold the rights to Volkswagen APs in Malaysia.
On an unrelated note, there will be no more posts today and perhaps Wednesday as I will somewhere without access to a computer or the internet. Be good!
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woohoo . . . any idea if they are going to bring the VW rabbit to M'sia. I know lotsa people would like them :)
Hmmm…..wondering whether EON Servis franchise dealers will be allowed to service VWs ?
VW creating very weird car distribution, I would say it only weakening its distribution strength and make consumers confuse only. Not a wise move…
pycazu, u are obviously not familiar with the industry. Competition between distributors is always good. e.g. DaimlerChrysler has C&C and Si Khiong Star, BMW has Auto Bavaria, Seong Hoe, & previously Cartrade. For consumers it will be good as u wont be treated with the "take it or leave it" atitude like previously experienced with EON (prior to Proton Edar). For the principal (VW/MB/BMW) u won't be in the situation where the distributor is holding ur "balls". Meaning if one dealer refuses to offer something to the customer, the other can and will get the business hence the previous "dificult" dealer will have to follow suit.
I really don't feel comfortable with EON, lack of confidence. Don't think they're doing a good job with Audi and they are screwing up Mitsubishi. And do they have any valuable experience from distributing Proton ???? VW is making a big mistake with EON.
redragon, I don't think EON has messed up with Audi. As far as I know, EON has done a way better job for Audi now than the previous distributor….what was that? Auto Dunia? or something lah….has done. This is what I heard from some local Audi enthusiast.
its either our local biz model doesnt suite VW at all…or its VW whos being snobbish…i mean their agreement with proton didnt work.amazing tempo didnt work either,and now with eon …thrs mus be sting with VW that the local distributors find hard to agree on..i dont think its purely bcos of our local distributors…but its hard to know wats behind the curtain…bt doesnt seem right either for them to disagree with THREE distributors…
dey start selling da rabbit d.
e-nabilll,
1) Since when VW deal with Amazing Tempo?
2) Dicussions with Proton was NOT about distributorships, it was more than that.
VW never dealt directly with amazing tempo (they should have). they were picking up really well until the old man opened his mouth and the fat lady sang.
aksMs, you are right, euromobil is doing a better job than autodunia but how much better? audi make really good cars and i think it could do much better than this. putting up a "hangar" showroom alone is not enough. VW deserves much better than what they are doing with audi. you need a lot of passion to make VW work and I personally feel EON just doesn't have what it takes.
and again, the AP holder just sit and relax while EON working hard to sell cars
AutoStadt Asia Sdn Bhd hold the rights for AP and not even will build any distribution network. They easily give EON the right to distribute and AutoStadt just sit and print money!
Whoever the dealer, the success of VW will depend on pricing it correctly for the target market. VW makes very desirable cars but desire with the wrong price tag doesn't sell. No marque wants to share the fate of Alfa Romeo which sells a few cars a month (if at all) and Sime-Darby is now holding a hot potato.
VW cancelled their plans to launch post-NAP due to an unfavourable customs gazetted price list (the most powerful document in the auto industry) which would have made them uncompetitive.
The revised customs gazetted price list has significantly downgraded the CIF prices for VW while leaving other marques like Audi untouched. This has paved the way for VW to launch in Malaysia at prices which wil not cast it into the super-niche category.
Could politics have something to do with this? You bet! The couple who owns Autostadt has powerful connections which most already know but I will not mention here to avoid trouble for Paul Tan. Much as we deride Autostadt for being a rent seeker, without them VW may never be able to launch in Msia.
pycazu said, "VW creating very weird car distribution, I would say it only weakening its distribution strength and make consumers confuse only. Not a wise move…"
I think from biz point of you, VW make a right move. For example, for P1, apart from Proton Edar and Eon, there are many individual distributorship selling P1 car, either with sole showroom or multiple branches. VW may just enter into distribustorhip with these company, and may with other as the case maybe. Perhaps VW may have similar distributoship with those qualified individual! It is just like "franchise" arrangement!
Selamat Menyambut Hari Merdeka ke-49 pada 31 Ogos 06 Kepada Semua Rakyat Malaysia.
KingKong
Pls check yr facts before simply opening yr mouth. Autostadt is only the official importer of VW cars. They do not have any say as to who VW wants to appoint as a dealer or distributor or service centre or whatever. Everything is controlled by VW including the number of VW cars to be imported in. If you want to know how VW operates, think german. VW is a full fledged german mentality company. Achtung. Achtung. Ja. Ja. LOL
my 2 cents worth
"There is also someone else with a slice of the Volkswagen pie – AutoStadt Asia Sdn Bhd which hold the rights to Volkswagen APs in Malaysia."
read above statement.
AutoStadt can get the AP, and they don't bother who will be the distributor because one VW car enter Malaysia, they will earn money.
seems you're so happy that AutoStadt get the AP and make easy money.
sorry if it's your relative company.
KingKong
No such luck, bro. Not a relative but a close friend so i do know a bit. Honestly, you will be surprised to know they don't earn much for each car imported by VW. They have refused the temptation to sell the AP's making big bucks but rather to earn a margin on each car being imported and VW is not being very generous with the margin. The cheaper the car the lower the margin.
aisayyy! vw though autostadt,honda though weststar,merc though xxx,bmw thoughxxx,all this are no good to you and me,if vw oredi set up co.in malaysia,let them bring in themself lah,what speciality autostadt had that require vw to go though it,AP lah,just another company not doing anything and benefits from us,the consumer, malaysia culture lah,xxx king,xxx king,xxx queen,deprive me from driving a good vw cars like golf gti,polo,golf fsi,when are we going to be free of all this,may be the sun set on east and not on west..vision 2020 seems far away,freedom and parasite free?not my this life time lahhhh!
oranglulu,
very true. it's to protect the local industry. blame it on the person who thot this up. our exsuper old man who still can't keep his mouth shut.