Five months after it officially launched the Repsol range of automotive lubricants in Malaysia, UMW Lubricant International (ULI) has unveiled a complete range of locally-blended Repsol lubes, which covers both passenger car as well as motorcycle oils.
The full range of Repsol lubricants – including passenger car motor oils, from synthetic right down to mineral base formulations – has been introduced, and these are being blended locally at ULI’s plant in Shah Alam.
According to Megat Shahrul Azmir, UMW’s executive director, Engineering and Manufacturing Division, the blending of these oils at the ULI plant is operationally supervised and overseen by Repsol Spain. “Therefore by virtue of working hand in hand, ULI can guarantee that the quality of the product is not compromised,” he said.
Prior to the introduction of the local range, ULI had been importing Repsol’s lubricants for passenger vehicles, motorcycles and diesel engines since the brand’s market debut in July last year.
Alongside the launch, ULI also announced its strategic business plan to penetrate into the Malaysian and regional market. Chief to this is the expansion of the dealer network to ensure greater accessibility to the products for consumers. Megat said that a total of 300 dealers have been appointed to date, and the network is expected to expand to more than 500 outlets by the end of 2012, including in East Malaysia.
In terms of market share, ULI has lined up numerous marketing initiatives to promote the brand this year, and says it is confident that by the end of 2012 the Repsol brand should be able to successfully capture at least 4% of the market share in the country.
