Tapalaga (left) and Steiner are heading Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR: European automotive retail specialist Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS) today announced its entry into the local automotive market as the official distributor of Volkswagen cars, under the new company name of Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM).
Heading VPCM are its two managing directors Alin Tapalaga, who oversees the brand and human resource operations, and Florian Steiner who is responsible for aftersales, information technology and finance.
The announcement came after a series of consolidation exercises within Volkswagen operations in Malaysia over the past six months.
Volkswagen Group Malaysia would continue as a going concern and would re-focus on the Audi brand as well as its vehicle assembly operations in Pekan, Pahang. It would also have a new managing director Jeffrey Dehate with effect from Oct 1. Dehate replaces Armin Keller.
VPCM’s focus will be on sales strategies through future products, strengthening the Volkswagen dealer network and service and parts availability.
To further improve the ownership experience of Volkswagen products, VPCM is introducing a 5-year manufacturer's warranty for all Volkswagen cars bought from today. It will be launching the new Jetta and all-new Passat within the next few months.
“VPCM is fully committed to the future growth of the Volkswagen brand amidst 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. Customers can also rest assured that we will be increasing the CKD model lineup, and will continue to import CBU models into the country,” said Tapalaga.
"Customer satisfaction remains a priority to us, and we recognize the importance of a strong relationship with our dealer partners in order to achieve this. Together, we will continue to explore new ways to further enhance our customers’ experience,” said Steiner.
Porsche Holding Salzburg is the largest and most successful automotive distributor in Europe. The Salzburg-based company was founded in 1947, and operates today in 26 markets in western- and south-eastern Europe, China, and in Colombia and Chile.
