Borneo Motors gets new sales, marketing heads

[Cheekg98]

Motoring Published January 17, 2007

Borneo Motors gets new sales, marketing heads

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A MANAGEMENT reshuffle at Borneo Motors Singapore has resulted in a change in the executives in charge of the Toyota and Lexus brands, whose roles have been refined.

Experienced: Mr Yeo (above) was previously GM-director of Champion Motors, distributors of Suzuki, and Mr Choo was Borneo's special assistant to CEO, directorate

Gavin Yeo has been appointed director of sales and marketing for Toyota and Hino, while William Choo has become director of sales and marketing for Lexus.

 

Mr Yeo was previously GM-director of Champion Motors, which distributes Suzuki. Borneo and Champion are part of the Inchcape group of companies.

 

Mr Choo was previously Borneo's special assistant to CEO, directorate.

 

The two men replace former director of marketing Peh Hock Chuan and director of sales William Low.

 

Mr Peh and Mr Low submitted their resignations some time ago and will leave the company at the end of January. Both of them are headed overseas for jobs that will be motor industry-related.

 

Mr Low said he was head-hunted by an automotive company and will be involved in business development. He will be flying to Shanghai in late February after clearing his leave.

 

'Now is the best time to go to China,' he explained. 'China has a lot of opportunities and it will be good for my long-term career advancement.'

 

Borneo will not have any transition worries because there is a 'good succession plan', he said. 'And if I don't leave, there will not be opportunities for the second liners,' he added with a laugh.

 

Asked whether Toyota's falling market share was related to his impending departure, he said it was only a rumour.

 

'People always have different kinds of stories. We have been number one for five years in a row,' he said, referring to Toyota's top ranking since 2002, when it overtook Nissan to become Singapore's most popular brand.

 

'Our top priority is to be number one. If we can gain market share that will be good. But despite an ageing model line-up, we have still been able to retain the number one position. I think that is acceptable.'

Borneo's managing director Mark Choong said Mr Low and Mr Peh were 'not pushed out'.

 

'They left of their accord. With their departure, we have revamped the organisation and given new opportunities to our younger managers,'

 

Mr Choong said. 'Even though I've lost two senior managers, their replacements are experienced.'

 

Mr Choo has been with Borneo for more than 10 years, while Mr Yeo was responsible for building up the Suzuki brand.

 

'In every change comes new opportunity,' Mr Choong said.

Some in the motor industry have speculated that surging parallel import (PI) sales and an eroding market share are behind the management reshuffle.

 

One particular success for the PI trade is the Wish compact MPV, which is not offered by Borneo and which chalked up 6,628 units last year to become Singapore's top MPV model by a huge margin.

 

'If you look at Borneo's model range, it is not new. If the car is new like the Toyota Camry, it is expensive when compared to a Japanese-made Camry brought in by a PI,' said a competitor, referring to Borneo's Thai-made Camry. The company's Corolla Altis, Vios and Yaris are also sourced from Toyota Thailand.

 

Mr Yeo's track record in boosting Suzuki Swift sales should mean a rejuvenation of Toyota sales, the competitor said.

'Champion's high-spec Swift is better value than the PIs' and the company's marketing is also more appealing because it is geared towards lifestyle and image.'

[Cheekg98]

Toyota and Honda parallel imports surge

PI market last year accounted for 13.8% of 2006 total of 116,849 new cars

 

By SAMUEL EE Email this article Print article ? Feedback

 

THE parallel import market soared from an industry low a few years ago to a bumper year in 2006, but only two familiar brands reaped the biggest gains: Toyota and Honda.

Top choice: The most popular Toyota model from a parallel importer was the Toyota Wish MPV - a 1.8-litre compact seven-seater not available from authorised distributor Borneo Motors

These two Japanese makes have traditionally led the grey market, or new cars offered by those who are not authorised agents or distributors. But last year, their numbers jumped substantially to an all-time high (see table).

 

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), parallel imports (PI) of Toyota cars more than doubled to 10,634 units in 2006 from 4,424 units in 2005, with the brand accounting for about two-thirds of the total 16,137 grey imports last year. Honda came in second in the

PI ranking, with its 4,094 units more than triple the previous year's 1,256 units and accounting for a quarter of the total PI market in 2006.

 

Coming in at a distant third in the brand rankings was Suzuki with 664 units, although this was already a big increase from its 2005 tally of 63 units.

 

There are about 100 companies here offering PI cars. Keen pricing, high trade-in and overtrades, and models not available in the official agent's showroom helped to propel PI sales of both Toyota and Honda.

 

The most popular Toyota model from a PI was the Wish MPV - a 1.8-litre compact seven-seater not available from authorised distributor Borneo Motors. According to the LTA, 6,628 units were registered, making up two out of every five PI cars bought last year.

 

The second most popular PI model was the Honda Fit, with 1,128 units of this Japanese domestic model (JDM) sold, although the export version, the made-in-Japan Jazz, is available from Kah Motor.

 

The third most popular model was the Toyota Rush at 713 units. This 1.5-litre compact SUV is not offered by Borneo although its mechanically identical sibling, the Daihatsu Terios, can be found at agent Sin Tien Seng.

 

Other models that could be bought from their agents but which still chalked up good PI sales were the 690 units of Toyota Estima - a JDM version of the Previa - and 540 units of Toyota Camry, a JDM car unlike Borneo's Thai-made version.

 

After tough government action on rampant under-declaration and other high jinks, the PI scene appeared to be on the verge of collapse in 2004 when the number of PI cars fell to about 4,000, from 2003's estimated 7,500 units.

 

The plunge took place despite overall growth in the passenger car market, thanks to burgeoning quotas of COEs. But 2005 marked a turnaround in PI fortunes with 6,282 units, culminating in the 2006 boom of 16,137.

 

LTA says a total of 116,849 new cars were registered last year, which means the PI market alone accounted for an unprecedented 13.8 per cent of total volume.

 

Meanwhile, members of the Motor Traders Association of Singapore (MTA) accounted for 98,729 units, or 84.5 per cent of total cars. Among MTA members last year, Toyota continued to be the clear market leader with 24,696 units; Nissan was second with 14,756 units; and Honda was third with 10,823, nudging Hyundai into fourth place with 10,013.

[Shull]

has this got to do with the declining sales of toyoda?

[Apollo]

dun think so... the sales manager fr sushi-ta has gone to BMW

[Kiss29]

Well...its funny to see that MANY of the AD are interelated to a head company.

Borneo & Champion belongs to Inchcape?

Motorimage(subaru) also part of Borneo group?

Who else is linked?

 

No wonder the COE bidding can be so coordinated controlled.

[Nine_eleven]

motorimage is under tan chong group...

 

and yes, borneo and champion are under the inchcape group...

 

toyota owns majority share in subaru (fuji heavy industries i think) in japan...

[inlinesix]

Toyota owns 10% of Fuji Heavy Industries. This is bought from GM.

[Tohdj]

FYI...at one point in time....tan chong group owns nissan, subaru, volkswagen and audi car distributorship. then peter kwee took over VW....karsono kwee took over audi.

[Try_conti]

hmmm, if u read in between the lines, the tone seems to say a different thing. Or is it just me ? Just look at the comments made by each parties ..

 

"...'And if I don't leave, there will not be opportunities for the second liners,' he added with a laugh...." - second liners ???

 

"...'They left of their accord. With their departure, we have revamped the organisation and given new opportunities to our younger managers,' Mr Choong said. 'Even though I've lost two senior managers, their replacements are experienced.' .... " - aka 'No problems, no big deal, won't be missed' .....

 

 

Finally, a side note "....He will be flying to Shanghai in late February after clearing his leave...." - joining Chery, girly ????