New executive director of the Eurokars Group, Charmain Kwee, went from philanthropic law to starting a brand new BMW dealership in Singapore

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SINGAPORE

We like to say Singapore is the toughest place to sell automobiles anywhere in the world, and it’s even tougher now with record Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices and a market that’s down 40 percent compared to the year before.

So why would you ditch a promising career as an attorney to join the motoring industry?

The chance of steering one of the most prominent ships in the industry is one reason, but the other might surprise you. Meet Ms Charmain Kwee, 26, who is the new executive director of the Eurokars Group.

Ms Kwee is daughter of the company’s executive chairman and founder, Karsono Kwee. Set up in 1985, it’s the largest privately-held multi-brand dealership group in Singapore. It’s currently the authorised dealer for Mazda, McLaren, MG, Mini, Pagani, Porsche, and Rolls-Royce in Sinapore, alongside other dealerships in Indonesia, China, and Australia.

While Ms Kwee’s title sees her spread across the brands in Eurokars’ portfolio, the lawyer-turned-executive-director begins her journey by focusing on BMW’s new journey with Eurokars.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Eurokars Auto was, in a mould-breaking move, appointed as the second official BMW dealership in Singapore. A mere four months later, in a feat of impressively compressed showroom setup, its temporary premises for the brand at 11 Leng Kee Road was unveiled. 

Before this however, Ms Kwee had a two-year stint as a lawyer, spending a year with Oon and Bazul doing commercial litigation, followed by another year at the Sterling Law Corporation. Her time with the latter saw her working in criminal, family, and community law, including taking on cases pro bono.

It sounds like an almost total 180, career wise, so CarBuyer sat down with Charmain to find out about her reasons for switching, the transition to this new industry, as well as Eurokars’ newest dealership and how it intends to make a mark against the established competition.

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CarBuyer: What does a typical work day look like for you?

Charmain Kwee (CK): While I have an office I don’t really sit down because many people still need you at the same time. So I’m basically always on my phone!

A lot of my team, honestly, works till very late and I really appreciate them a lot. So while I’m in the office during working hours, after that I may stay in the office later to help them out just to be with them. 

I don’t clock off work until I get home and also being in the family business, ultimately my boss – my dad – is at home. Our family dinners will be like, “How many cars were sold today?” I think over time I’ve learned to treat it as part of my second life.

What is it like working with your dad?

CK: The reason why I left law to come into the business was, honestly, to spend more time with my dad. I had this mindset of “Why am I giving my blood, sweat, and tears for someone who is not my dad,” …as great as my ex-bosses are! (laughs)

I would come home stressed because of work, and I see my dad stressed because of work, and feel really guilty because that is the hand that fed me growing up, and I can’t do anything about it to help him. So I think the push started when the BMW business came in. I thought, “My dad looks stressed enough, now it’s time to do something about it.”

I thought, “My dad looks stressed enough,
now it’s time to do something about it.”

Charmain Kwee

Are there aspects of your former career you can apply to this new one?

CK: I think empathy is definitely one. We are running a family business, so you don’t need to have a hard hearted transactional approach with things.

I feel that there’s an added value to asking the person “How do I help you, help me do this together?” I think that’s something that I’ve taken away from the community side of law.

Being in matrimonial law also taught me to not take things to heart and to become more resilient, which I think is a really good value to pick up.

Now that the BMW brand has joined the Eurokars stable, do you see any synergies happening?
CK: I feel that with the addition of the new BMW brand, it completes the BMW family within Eurokars Group* And it’s not something that’s new to us because we mirrored this in Indonesia – we have Rolls Royce, Mini, BMW. Now if anything, it makes the entire group more efficient. One benefit that we have as a group is we tap on each other’s experiences and expertise.

*BMW Group owns BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce

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As executive director how do you divide your time between the brands?

CK: When I first came in my orientation was basically to go around and figure out how things work. Because I know nothing about cars and I know nothing about the industry, I was shadowing everybody and getting my foot in. 

But because BMW is now starting from scratch with us, it’s a good learning opportunity for me. So my time currently is very focused on BMW. While I have my hands on everything in a high level kind of approach, on the ground I start with BMW.

What can BMW customers expect from the Eurokars Auto experience? 

CK: The key is, just because you sell a car to a customer doesn’t mean your aftersales doesn’t follow through. It must be a hand in hand process. The customer should be able to expect higher service quality, to be able to trust us to make sure they have a very seamless and happy car ownership experience. 

To us yes, we have many customers but to the customer, you are the only person that can fix that car for them. Your first transaction with us is not a transaction per se. It’s the building block of a long-term relationship. 

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How has the first two weeks of EKA operation been? What’s the reception been like?
It’s been very heartening and surprising to see that showroom traffic, overall, was very good, despite the fact that the market sentiment now in the automotive side is fairly weak. Most of it has been from prospective BMW customers of course, but many of our existing customers, business partners, and even customers from Indonesia came by to show their support. After seeing the traffic and hearing those compliments, I would say that the first week for EKA has been very good and satisfying. 

Do you miss law?

CK: I was very happy that my dad gave me time in that career. He gave me a year at first – and then I asked for two! (laughs) You shouldn’t start straight by jumping into a family company I feel. 

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