Tridente Auto, under Komoco Holdings, is now the official importer and distributor for Maserati cars in Singapore

SINGAPORE – A new Maserati dealership has opened its doors here in Singapore on May 19, 2017. The company, named Tridente Automobili Pte Ltd, is the new official importer and distributor for Maserati cars in Singapore, and replaces Hong Seh Motors.

Tridente Automobili is part of Komoco Holdings, owned by tycoon Ong Beng Seng, which also currently distributes the Chrysler, Dodge, Ferrari, Hyundai, Harley-Davidson and Jeep brands in Singapore as well. Komoco Holdings also has a Maserati dealership in Shanghai, which it says won Best Dealer Award for China in February 2017.

From left to right: Amaury La Fonta, GM Maserati SEA-Pacific, Teo Hock Seng, director Komoco Holdings, Nick Syn, director Tridente Automobili

Its showroom is situated in Komoco Group’s Alexandra/Leng Kee building. Tridente’s facade is located at 30 Leng Kee Road, and occupies the ground floor next to the current Ferrari showroom.

The new Maserati facility occupies a total of 22,000 square feet, with 7,000 sq-ft for the dealership and front end on the first floor, and 15,000 square feet for aftersales and service on the fourth floor. Tridente boasts the latter can accommodate 20 cars and features 18 work bays. Company representatives demurred on giving an exact figure for the cost of the works, which included reshuffling Ital Auto/Ferrari’s ‘open concept’ service bays to the upper floors, but said it amounted to a ‘seven-figure sum’.

Director of Tridente Automobili, Mr Nick Syn, said that Maserati was a good fit given the current brands held by Komoco Holdings, and that it’s aimed at customers who want something more special and exotic, and not looking to compromise, but also suitable for daily driving. Maserati is part of conglomerate FCA, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, to which Fiat, Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler belong. 

Amaury La Fonta, the general manager for Maserati SEA-Pacific, added, “One of the aims of the new partnership is the Transformation for Singapore, and our common goal is to deliver the best customer satisfaction with this new state-of-the-art facility.”

The Levante is Maserati’s first SUV and is expected to help bolster the brand’s sales, both here and abroad

2013 saw the model re-vamp for the brand, with the new luxury limo Quattroporte running on a new Fiat group platform and Ferrari-engineered twin-turbo V8 engine, while the smaller Ghibli uses the same technology. The brand’s first SUV, the Levante, was unveiled globally last year and soft-launched by Hong Seh before it ceased the dealership.

Hong Seh Motors sold and distributed Maserati cars here from 1999 to 2016. In a letter to customers dated March 28 2017 and which went viral on social media, managing director of the Hong Seh Group, Mr Alfred Tan, cited rising costs, ARF increases, and reduced profitability as the reason for its exit of the motoring business. Hong Seh also held the dealership for Ferrari from 1982 to 2009, when the dealership was given to Ital Auto. Hong Seh says it will now focus on aviation and maritime businesses, including luxury yachts from the Feretti Group. Maserati sold 63 cars here in 2016, down from 75 cars in 2015, and from a 10-year-high of 91 cars in 2011. Mr Alfred Tann also told CarBuyer that his dealership has sold 54 cars in the first sixth months of 2017, and May 2017 saw a record 34 cars sold.

Maserati’s requests for a showroom on the Alexandra-Leng Kee automotive belt, according to the letter, would have also resulted in vastly increased rental overheads. Hong Seh is currently in the process of clearing its stock of Maserati cars (as the sales figures above show), and it’s understood that none of this inventory has been taken over by Tridente.