Flower power

Ford has always considered Thailand an important strategic location.

The American automaker has invested as much as $2.4 billion (Bt77.2 billion) in Thailand, using the kingdom as a production and export hub. And apart from a $350-million additional investment through the AutoAlliance Thailand joint-venture plant with Mazda in Rayong, Ford has dipped into its pockets to spend another $450 million to build a new factory for producing the Focus and other future models under a five-year “One Ford” business plan.

However, Ford’s 17-year presence in Thailand has had its ups and downs. After David Snyder, the first president of Ford Thailand, handed over the helm to Chatchai Bunnag, it was in a position to make a difference in the Thai market, thanks to marketing gurus like Saroch Kiatfuengfoo and Sompong Poljitjaroon.

Both Saroch and Sompong understood the Thai auto market and were able to dramatically improve Ford’s brand awareness with the launch of the Ranger pickup that highlighted safety features and performance. The Ranger played a major role in levitating Ford sales in Thailand, but the golden days were short. After Chatchai’s resignation, several American executives were sent to run Ford Thailand without much success, until Saroch, who earlier left the company to join Mitsubishi, made a strong return, this time securing the vice president position and reporting directly to Ford’s regional headquarters.

But Saroch left again late last year, despite the fact that Ford has been enjoying tremendous growth in the market with the new Fiesta, Focus and Ranger. It is well-accepted in Thailand that Ford is a brand that has been a leader in innovations, whether it is the safety pickup, closet-type doors on spacecab pickups or E20-compatible passenger cars. Ford has many a time been involved with taxation disputes with the Thai government, which many see as lagging in terms of promoting technology.

Thai customers are aware of Ford’s outstanding products, many of which are class-leading, but the company has been suffering dearly from its notorious after-sales glitches, especially with certain dealerships that have often been caught in disputes with customers. Ford is aware of the problem, but the large number of organisational changes, as well as policy adjustments and executive reshuffling were the cause of a management that that was not continuous.

Today, the person who is responsible in turning the tables around for Ford is Yukonthorn “Vicky” Wisetkosin. He first joined Ford Thailand in September last year as vice president for marketing, sales and service, and was promoted to president in early 2013. Yukonthorn and his Ford team recently staged a press conference on raising the quality of customer services, both pre- and after-sales, at all dealerships.

According to Yukonthorn, Ford’s aim is to become a “Smart Brand” offering “Smart Service” and is planning to utilise a large number of modern technologies in its showrooms, which will number 140 venues by the end of this year.

Among the innovations customers can expect at Ford showrooms is the interactive Experience Wall System though which customers can study vehicle details, pricing, financing plans and even campaigns and promotions. At the New Car Delivery Room, customers can further study all the details of the vehicle with assistance from sales representatives, who uses tablets to explain all the features of the car.

“We had carried out improvements earlier, and this is the second stage of the project. Among them are the improvements to the showroom entrance, a blue wall with the Ford logo, ceiling, lighting as well as vehicle display, interactive equipment, a sales advisory area, a car delivery room, a service adviser, a standard workshop, an epoxy floor, and more,” she said.

Having been initiated by Ford president and CEO Alan Mullaly, the project is divided into two phases.

“We are at the end of the first phase which includes transforming the brand with innovations and technology, and we have been successful in achieving the Smart Brand status. The second phase deals with customer experience and we aim to turn things around at all our dealerships across the country,” she said. “By the end of this year, we will have a 100-per-cent new identity. We have been discussing with nationwide dealers, and old dealers are willing to make further investments once they know our goal is to become the top brand.

“Six or seven years ago dealers had already invested Bt5 million to Bt10 million. And, of course, we adjusted the margin structure and topped it up. It was an important move towards a smart showroom, smart brand and smart product, as well as smart people,” she said.

“We will present new experiences to our dealers, and stage road trips to every dealer, asking them to present a plan and prepare for growth in the future. This year many of them are highly interested although the market isn’t as good as last year. However, our dealers are making more profits from the increase in market share. For every 1 per cent share increase between Ford and Toyota, our profit per unit is higher,” Yukonthorn claimed.

She said this would help strengthen the Ford brand as well as its employees. During the last 6-7 years when Ford was not in a very strong position in Thailand, it had set up the Ford Academy to train employees. “When the economy slowed down Ford did not drop this project although it required a large budget, and part of the support came from our head office in Shanghai,” she said.

“We have a 10-step quality-care sales process. We count the steps in approaching the customer, knowing how to greet them and ask whether they need any assistance, not jump on them at once. We know how to walk around, and know our position. If the customer starts from the rear of the vehicle the sales person must know how to assist the customer around the car. If they can pass this, then they can start sales work. We have role-playing every day just like the Japanese kaizen. Every day at 8am sales reps would gather around the car. We must do this daily if we want excellence in our work. Meanwhile, the 12-step quality-care service must also have higher quality,” Yukonthorn pointed out.

Although Yukonthorn has not been holding the reins of the company long enough to determine whether she is tough enough for the job, the transition of success from a previous company chief like Saroch has been carried out seamlessly, it seems. Last year Ford sold a record 54,865 vehicles in Thailand, growing by 88 per cent compared to 2011. Meanwhile, during the first seven months of this year, sales reached 31,150 vehicles, up 15.2 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year and equivalent to a 3.7-per-cent market share.

 

 

PANADDA JENNAVASIN

vice president, Tripetch Isuzu Sales

 

Panadda Jennavasin is the first woman to become vice president of Tripetch Isuzu Sales (TIS), the distributor of Isuzu vehicles in Thailand. This means she is the top-ranked female executive of Mitsubishi Corporation, the parent company of TIS. Mitsubishi Corp is Japan’s largest trading company (sogo shosa) present in 80 countries and employing 54,000 people. She is presently the senior vice president of TIS as well as Isuzu Operations (Thailand), which is responsible for exporting Thai-made Isuzu vehicles to global markets. In addition, Panadda is also responsible for strategy-making in 20 affiliate companies.

Isuzu had just invested in a new factory worth Bt6.5 billion and recently celebrated production of 3 million vehicles in Thailand, a feat that many say would not have taken place without Panadda.

The Isuzu D-Max pickup that was first launched in 2002 was a major milestone for the company, helping the brand to maintain the top position in the Thai pickup market for 24 consecutive years, before eventually being overtaken by global powerhouse Toyota. Nevertheless, Isuzu has always been breathing down Toyota’s neck and is still one of the top choices for pickup truck buyers in the kingdom.

From January to July this year, it sold 135,137 vehicles, up 18.5 per cent, and ranks third behind Toyota (271,482 passenger cars and commercial vehicles) and Honda (147,497 cars).

It is no surprise that Panadda was named the most outstanding automotive executive in 2005. Securing the pickup crown for 24 years and convincing Isuzu to relocate all of its pickup production to Thailand are among her top achievements.

Under her management, Isuzu has been innovative in many marketing activities that bore fruit in terms of sales. They include fuel economy challenges that saw Isuzu trucks using just one tank of fuel to cover distances of over 1,000km, for example in driving events in China or in Malaysia. Another recent marketing success is the sponsoring of the Thai Fight that has become one of the most watched local sports events on television, drawing not only Muay Thai followers but also the general public.

Panadda is also responsible for initiating the Tripetch Isuzu Marketing School that enrolls Isuzu marketing staff from around the world and teaches them about the company’s success in Thailand.

“Isuzu’s success does not come from me, but from our teamwork,”she once said modestly. “I’m just like the caretaker of the vehicle structure that is comprised of many, many small nuts and bolts.”

Panadda has been with TIS for 40 years and today still works hard in propelling Isuzu to maintain its supremacy in the commercial vehicle market.

 

 

CHANTANA WATTANAROMYA

president, Volvo Car (Thailand)

 

This is another challenging year for distributor Volvo Car (Thailand) and its president Chantana Wattanaromya, the first woman to achieve this position at the company.

After being able to achieve the 1,800-vehicle sales target last year, Volvo is upping its target to 2,500 vehicles in 2013, and this is a major challenge for Chantana. While it is considered difficult for a Thai to be promoted to the top position of a global car brand, Chantana has been able to prove her mettle by steering the company out of a crisis.

While Volvo had been a strong luxury car brand in the past, the larger number of players in the luxury segment had been eating up market share. However, Chantana was not a car company executive from the start, having been involved with UNHCR for five years before joining Caltex and then Leo Burnett.

She first joined Volvo when the distributorship belonged to Thai-owed Swedish Motors Corp (SMC). Due to the economic crisis in 1997, SMC was taken over by Volvo Car Corporation, and Volvo Car Thailand was set up. Chantana was among the staff that was transferred to the new entity. She was later promoted to marketing director and held that position for several years before Volvo Car decided to appoint her as company president in mid-2009. Volvo’s sales during the first seven months of this year are promising, with 1,672 vehicles sold, up 20 per cent compared to the same period in 2012.