The Peugeot “Blue Box” Officially Opens for Business
Motorists driving along the Federal Highway in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, would not have missed the blue building which has been coming up next to the Mercedes-Benz showroom. Formerly, housing the Mazda division of Cycle & Carriage Bintang, it is now the premier 3-in-1 outlet of Cycle & Carriage Automobiles (CCA), the C&C Bintang subsidiary which imports and distributes Peugeot vehicles in Malaysia.
Dubbed the “Blue Box” which is Peugeot’s standardized identity retail outlets worldwide, the building had its official opening today by senior executives of Automobiles Peugeot and Cycle & Carriage Bintang. Also present was the French ambassador to Malaysia and other business associates of the company.
The cost renovating the building was around RM4 million and the high expenditure is evident in the interior design, particularly the materials used which include fine wood flooring and modern furniture and fittings which complement the stylish designs of Peugeot cars.
Explaining the concept of the “Blue Box”, Frederic Banzet, Director of Peugeot’s Asia-Pacific Operations, said: “The concept reflects the ambitions of Peugeot to be counted amongst the benchmark brands worldwide, improving our system of visual imagery to strengthen our brand identity in the network. This high visual impact is achieved through the simplicity of the architecture combined with an extensive use of the colour blue – our brand colour – enabling the customers to instantly see and remember the Peugeot dealership.”
As a 3-in-1 facility, the Blue Box can provide a full range of services to Peugeot owners, including supply of original parts and service for vehicles. The service centre at the back of the building is equipped with trained technicians who have all the relevant tools for servicing Peugeots.
An innovative feature which no other company offers in Malaysia is the capability to have a car diagnosed by a Peugeot specialist on the other side of the world in real-time. This is done using Diag2000NG, a diagnostic machine which uses the Windows platform and communicates via the Internet. It can be linked directly to the Peugeot Assistance Platform in Manchester, UK (where Peugeot has a factory in the northeast of the country), and when a car is hooked up to the machine, information on its engine operation will be transmitted to the site in UK where it can be reviewed by technical staff. This will be useful in cases where the local technicians have a problem which they have difficulty solving.
Diag2000NG is said to be among the various high-performance tools and solutions developed by Peugeot to benefit customers through making diagnostic services more accurate and speedy at every dealership.
On the issue of costs, Wong Kin Foo, GM of CCA said that Peugeot owners should not feel that the costs of spares and services will be exceptionally high. He emphasized that the rates and prices will be competitive and should be agreeable with customers.
“Customers should not compare our operation to that of our sister company which sells Mercedes-Benz as we are separate companies. We have our own price structure based on the products we sell and the expectations of our owners. For example, with tools like Diag2000NG, we can reduce servicing costs too as less labour time will be involved,” he explained.
CCA will quickly expand its retail network around Malaysia during 2003 and before April, it should have another five dealers appointed. “Our expansion plan will be reviewed from time to time to ensure that we remain relevant to market demand,” said Tan Sri Abdul Halim bin Ali, Chairman of C&C Bintang.
CCA’s efforts are expected to help Peugeot achieve an 8% market share in the non-national segment of the Malaysian passenger car market. There are also discussions going on to assemble the 307 model in Malaysia as part of a regional strategy which aims to increase the French carmaker’s presence in ASEAN.
