APAC Automotive Forum 2006
The Asia Pacific Automotive Forum held on 16 and 17 February 2006 was an interesting 2 days of exchanging ideas and gaining information about the automotive industry in the Asia-Pacific region. Organised by Marcus Evans, the event saw participation by delegates in the automotive and related industries from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Korea, and Japan.
Key personnel from the local scene who attended the Forum were Dato Frank Steinleitner of DaimlerChrysler Malaysia, Mr. Kugan from Proton Edar, and En. Bastamam Hamzah from DRB-Hicom Berhad.
This forum presents a unique opportunity for officials in the industry, CEO’s and top management personnel from the various automotive companies in the region to get together and share information about the auto industry.
An interesting piece of information shared during the forum is the revelation that the Asia Pacific region produced 23 million vehicles in 2005, and this number is expected to grow up to 32 million by 2012, and this figure would make up 42 percent of the global production. The main growth is expected to come from China.
Of special interest is a section on the automotive industry in China, including many discussions about doing the automotive business in that country. The main focus in this section is the emergence of China as a potentially large exporter of cars. The automotive industry in China is relatively young, and the local demand has been sufficient to keep the industry going. Initial quality issues are being resolved, and it is already predicted that China has the potential to be the largest exporter of automobiles if they can get their cars to be of higher quality. According to Heribert Keppler, Business Development Advisor of the Sime Darby Group, China is a ‘sleeping giant’. Another issue discussed with regard to the Chinese automotive industry was the lack of legislation to stop the blatant disregard of intellectual property rights by some of the manufacturers there. Some interesting pictures of ‘cloned’ vehicles were presented.
A talk by Mr. Joseph Baladi from Singapore on brand building was very interesting. According to Mr. Baladi, the days of ‘chest-beating’ about customer care and customer service are over, although for the past 20 years or so, the industry has been using this to win over customers. He said that customer care and customer service is not correct for brand building now because these issues are now ‘given’, meaning that customers all expect good customer care and excellent service from any company they make their purchases from. The new approach for branding is ‘ego’; in other words, customers now buy products that they can identify with, and that can boost their self-esteem.
Mr. C.R. Nanda of Bajaj Auto Limited, India, also delivered a talk on the ‘yesterday, toady and tomorrow’ of the Indian Automotive industry.
Many other subjects were also covered, and the delegates left the forum after two days with many new ideas and improved knowledge.
