Sime Darby - Sole factory authorised Porsche importer in Malaysia

The appointment, which follows a Letter of Intent signed between the two companies in January this year, was formalised in a signing ceremony that took place on Thurs-day, April 1, 2010.

Sime Darby takes over the responsibility from Jaseri Automotive Group Sdn Bhd, who had up till the first quarter of 2010 been handling the distribution and sales of Porsche cars in Malaysia.

With the agreement sealed, Auto Imports has appointed its related company, Sime Darby Auto Performance Sdn Bhd (Auto Performance) as the distributor of Porsche in Malaysia. Auto Performance is also a dealer and will have service centres that comply with Porsche’s stringent standards and undertake the sales, marketing and publicity functions as well as provide after-sales service for Porsche cars in Malaysia.

Auto Performance will be headed by Chief Executive Officer, Arnt Bayer and After-Sales Manager, Christopher Hunter. Both Mr. Bayer and Mr. Hunter were previously from Porsche Asia Pacific, as Regional Sales Manager and Technical Manager, respectively, based in Singapore. The newly established company is also retaining staff members from the Jaseri Group who resume their full responsibilities operating at the current Porsche Centre Glenmarie.

Dato’ Mokhzani Mahathir, Chairman of Jaseri Automotive Group will remain a share-holder of Auto Performance, providing continuity for Porsche’s existing customer base.

According to Arnt Bayer, "We are confident that Sime Darby is the right partner to take the Porsche brand to new heights in this key market. The company’s long standing experience, coupled with the solid team, will ensure a solid growth for Porsche in Malaysia. Improving customer satisfaction is high priority and one of the key projects will be the establishment of a state of the art After Sales facility in the Porsche Center Glenmarie that will offer first class service to all Porsche customers in Malaysia."

Dato’ Lawrence Lee, Sime Darby’s Executive Vice President, Motors Division said, "We are honoured to add Porsche to our portfolio, and believe that the brand is well-placed for great expansion in this market. We already have some great plans for Porsche in Malaysia, including the establishment of new dealership and a quick ser-vice centre for our customers, and will announce these in due course."