European automotive retail specialist Porsche Holding Salzburg yesterday announced its entry into the local automotive market as the official distributor of Volkswagen (VW) cars, under the new company name of Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM).
The announcement was made after a series of consolidation exercises within VW Malaysia, which had taken place over the past six months.
Helming VPCM are two MDs: Alin Tapalaga, who oversees the brand and human resource operations; and Florian Steiner, who is responsible for after sales, information technology and finance.
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“VPCM is fully committed to the future growth of the VW brand amid the highly competitive automotive landscape in Malaysia. With a strong management team already in place, we endeavour to provide our customers with a complete ownership experience,” Tapalaga said in a statement.
He said VPCM’s primary focus would be on sales strategies through future products, strengthening the VW dealer network and service and parts availability, as part of its longterm strategy in the region.
VPCM has also introduced a five-year manufacturer warranty for all VW cars purchased beginning Sept 1, 2016, improving ownership experience of VW products. VPCM is also expected to launch two key VW models — the new Jetta and all-new Passat — within the next few months.
VW Group Malaysia (VGM) will be concentrating its business interest in Malaysia on the Audi brand as well as its vehicle assembly operations in Pekan. VGM will be operating under a new MD, Jeffrey Dehate, with effect from Oct 1.
(Source: The Malaysian Reserve)