PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA, MAY 08, 2013 – Chevrolet officially launched its new dealership in Cambodia with a Grand Opening celebration in the capital of Phnom Penh. The ceremony marks the ambitious growth plan in Cambodia, part of the auto maker’s continued expansion in Southeast Asia. Chevrolet has partnered with United Auto Trading, an affiliate company of Goodwill Trading, one of the largest importers and distributors of motor vehicles in Cambodia for over 14 years. The new 2,000-square-meter flagship dealership has been open since February 2013 with sales in the first two months of operation exceeding previous annual sales records for Chevrolet in Cambodia.
Chevrolet’s current product lineup in in Cambodia includes the Spark, Cruze and Captiva, imported from Korea; the Colorado, imported from Thailand; and the Tahoe, imported from the United States. Additional models scheduled for sale later in 2013 include the Malibu and the Trailblazer. “Chevrolet is excited to continue on our road of expansion in Southeast Asia with the grand opening of our new dealership in Cambodia,’’ said Martin Apfel, President, General Motors Southeast Asia Operations. “United Auto Trading is an excellent partner with a great depth of experience and knowledge in Cambodia’s automotive market.” The dealership includes a 950 square meter showroom, featuring Chevrolet’s new corporate identify to strengthen its brand recognition in the market.A 1,050 square meter service area provides 10 service bays with seven lifts to support technical maintenance and service.
“The Cambodian automotive market is small but growing rapidly,” said Tong Norm, Chairman of United Auto Trading. “Chevrolet has an outstanding reputation for building quality cars and providing excellent customer service, and we look forward to partnering with Chevrolet to help expand their market share in Cambodia.” “Our growth strategy covers large, established markets like Thailand and Indonesia and emerging markets like Cambodia,” said Gustavo Daniel Colossi, Vice-President of Sales, Marketing and After sales for GM Southeast Asia Operations. “Our long term objective is to be one of the major players in the region. In Cambodia, our goal is to capture 10% of the market in 2013.”
Part of the company’s winning strategy for sales growth involves an aggressive expansion of its dealership network throughout the region with expected sales growth of 44 percent in 2013. Significant steps are being made to expand dealer networks in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Myanmar to reach this goal. In Thailand, Chevrolet plans to have 120 dealerships in place throughout the country by the end of 2013, a 29% increase in the dealership network. Chevrolet along with its dealers will invest Bt 1.5 billion into its dealer network in 2013 to further improve service quality. GM, through its Chevrolet nameplate, sold a total of 21,889 vehicles in the first quarter of 2013 in the Southeast Asia region – a 17 percent growth over the same time in 2012.