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Eurokars Auto appointed as second official BMW dealership in Singapore

Lionel Kong
20/05/2022
Performance motors building singapore BMW

Set to share the market with current BMW dealership Performance Motors Limited, BMW Asia states that the two dealerships will help the brand reach out to and maintain an even wider customer base in Singapore


SINGAPORE 

Starting from 1st October 2022, shoppers looking to buy a new BMW car in Singapore will have two dealerships from which to shop. The Eurokars Group, headed by executive chairman Karsono Kwee, has been picked by BMW Asia to run the second official dealership in Singapore, set to be located at an interim facility at 11 Leng Kee Road. BMW Asia has stated that this is a way for the brand to expand its reach in the luxury automobile segment in Singapore. 

The brand’s present dealership arrangement with Performance Motors Limited will continue, with BMW Asia acting as the national sales company that will supply inventory to both dealerships on an equal footing. 

Performance motors building singapore BMW
The Performance Motors BMW dealership at Alexandra Road

The Eurokars Group is one of Singapore’s most prominent auto dealership groups, with the Rolls-Royce, Pagani, McLaren, Porsche, Mini, Mazda, and MG brands all under its umbrella. 

Executive chairman of the Eurokars Group Karsono Kwee was quoted as saying, “This is an exciting milestone for Eurokars Group as we expand our long-standing partnership with the BMW Group in the region. Our story with the BMW Group started in 2003 with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Singapore and Indonesia. One year later, we began our partnership with BMW and BMW M in Indonesia and in 2006, partnered again to launch Mini in Singapore. We aim to leverage our knowledge of the BMW brand, and our extensive experience and expertise in the automobile industry, including the premium and luxury car segment, to ensure Eurokars Auto brings the latest that BMW has to offer to customers in Singapore.”

Karsono Kwee head of Eurokars Group
Executive chairman of the Eurokars Group, Karsono Kwee

Managing director of BMW Asia, Lars Nielsen, revealed to CarBuyer Singapore that this exercise had already been brewing for a couple of months, and a few other companies were indeed in competition to take on the role of the second official BMW dealership. He did not reveal who the other bidders were but commented that the Eurokars Group won out based on their track record and various other “soft factors” in the way its dealerships are managed.



“It’s important to note that in the grand scheme of things, Singapore is actually an anomaly when it comes to single dealerships,” said Nielsen. “When you look at the number of people in Singapore, it’s comparable to the population densities of most of the major cities in Europe. Those cities typically have more than one dealership for each brand. We have carefully considered the uniqueness of the Singapore market with the COE quota and such, and decided that a second official dealership will help the brand reach out to an even wider audience.”

Yet, the country is limited by the COE quota and there are only so many cars that can be sold every fortnight. To this, Nielsen said, “BMW has not acquired 100 percent market share in Singapore yet, so clearly, there is still room for growth.”

Lars Nielsen managing director BMW Asia
Managing director of BMW Asia, Lars Nielsen

He then candidly admits that 100 percent market share by any single brand is an unachievable fantasy, but there is definitely room for greater sales volume. “There are three broad sectors to consider here. BMW owners in the inner group, BMW fans in the middle sector, and then in the outer sector, the people we haven’t spoken to yet. We are aiming to bring people from the outer sector to the middle and inner sectors, and a second dealership will help the process along,” Nielsen explained. 

The new Eurokars Auto BMW facility will be a full dealership, and will sell every BMW car officially available in Singapore. This includes products from the M Performance and M car series. 

Performance Motors Limited (PML) has a slightly different arrangement in that the main dealership retails only the regular BMW and electric models like the iX and iX3, while a separate dealership in the form of Performance Munich Autos (PMA) sells the enthusiast variants like the M Performance range and M cars such at the M3 and M5. Both PML and PMA are owned by the Sime Darby Group. 



As all of these are fully-fledged dealerships and service centres, BMW customers will be able to service and maintain their cars at any of the facilities, no matter which official dealership their BMWs were bought from, BMW Asia has confirmed. 

The two-dealer arrangement does not extend to the BMW motorcycle range, which will still be sold exclusively from BMW Motorrad Singapore and continue to operate under PML management.

It has also been revealed that there are plans to build a new service centre which will incorporate the BMW brand Retail Next design concept, slated to launch next year at the Eurokars Group’s future headquarters located at 11 Kung Chong Road.

Performance Motors Limited will continue at its showroom at 303 Alexandra Road, along with its two Service Centres at 315 Alexandra Road and 280 Kampong Arang Road. 

Pang Cheong Yan managing director sime darby motors
Managing director of Sime Darby Motors, Pang Cheong Yan

“Performance Motors’ journey with BMW in Singapore began more than 40 years ago. Through this partnership, we have grown the BMW business to where it is today, the leading premium car brand in Singapore, with strong sales and aftersales operations, innovative marketing, and superior customer experience,” stated the managing director of Sime Darby Motors, Pang Cheong Yan.  “At Performance Motors, enhancing the customer experience is our focus and we will continue to give our customers the best experience every time, strengthening the BMW brand in Singapore.” 

Nielsen added the last word, “BMW has been working with Performance Motors for decades, and I can confirm this relationship will continue. I believe that PML will retain every customer that it has already won over, and continue to bring in new ones. The goal with having two dealerships in Singapore is purely about sales numbers. It’s about friendly competition. I expect the two dealerships to go all out to win customers over, while as the wholesaler of BMW cars in Singapore my goal is to put as many of them on the roads here as possible.”


Tags:

bmw Eurokars Auto performance motors PML singapore auto dealership

About the Author

Lionel Kong

An old hand from the bad old days of crazy COEs, the straight-shooting, ex-CarBuyer editor is back in the four-wheeled world. Rumours that he went to another country to start a Judas Priest tribute band are unfounded.

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