Spearheading Automotive Efficiency
BMW highlights the importance of sustainability
October 2009

With a storied history dating back more than 90 years, BMW is one of the most well-respected and renowned automobile marques in the world. Ever since the first car rolled out of its production line in 1962, the company has gained a reputation for being one of the top luxury car brands. And this reputation is especially strong in Malaysia, where BMW Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. has shown its strength despite only having been here for just six years. Geoffrey Briscoe - its Managing Director-reveals more about the company's direction in Malaysia.

A steady year

With 2009 being the year when the world economy, including Malaysia's, has been on a downtrend, one might be interested to know that - according to Mr. Briscoe - BMW Malaysia's sales have not been too badly affected when compared to many others. As he revealed, while BMW Malaysia has suffered a slight drop of around 2% to 2.5% compared to 2008, this is actually better than what the worldwide prestige market which has dropped by 20% overall.

While it has been a challenging and difficult year for the company as a whole, it has also served as an impetus for BMW Malaysia to introduce new schemes and new offerings to customers. Among these, which Mr. Briscoe revealed, were some initiatives by BMW Malaysia's financial arm - BMW Credit - to provide better offers and incentives to buyers.

As such, while 2009 has not been too good for BMW Malaysia, one can judge it in the terms that it could have been worse. And the fact that it has managed to do quite well in such troubled times is cause for satisfaction for Mr. Briscoe and his team. Furthermore, when talking about 2010, he expressed caution over what he believes to be premature celebrating over signs that the global economy is on a rebound, and highlighted certain less-than-welcomed facts such as unemployment forecasts in the United States. However, he also stated that the situation in Asia is not that bad, and as such he is confident that BMW Malaysia will continue on its growth trajectory.

The value of a brand

It should come as no surprise that BMW is doing quite well in Malaysia. After all, it has gained strong brand recognition in the country and for Mr. Briscoe, this shows in the fact that even during tough times like these, people are still willing to pay a premium price for a BMW. Furthermore, as mentioned above, BMW Credit has also offered several attractive financial and insurance packages to customers to encourage them to buy cars, and what's more - to quote Mr. Briscoe - this is probably one of the best times to buy a car as interest rates are low. Furthermore, BMW Malaysia has also been working closely with its dealers to help boost sales.

Apart from the brand recognition that BMW has, perhaps its strongest selling point is the fact that it has always been an innovative brand. As Geoffrey Briscoe explained, BMW is "the number one prestige marque in the world by volume and in terms of sales, and it is an area that we fight fiercely to hang on to."

One innovation that the company will be launching in Malaysia soon is its Efficient Dynamics campaign. This, Mr. Briscoe revealed, is a campaign that focuses on producing cars with greater fuel efficiency and yet which reduces CO2 emissions and have more power. Naturally, such a deed is not easy to achieve - nevertheless, BMW's engineers have done that and have in fact been doing it for over a decade.

The dynamism of efficiency

Of course, while the programme may have been around for a decade, it has yet to be introduced in Malaysia. Mr. Briscoe shared that to launch it; BMW Malaysia will be introducing a number of diesel-powered passenger cars into the country. And this, he said is a very exciting venture because there are virtually no diesel powered passenger cars in the country, as there is a perception that there is no market for them here.

This perception though could be said to be a mistaken one. To those who think that way Mr Briscoe has a hypothetical scenario, "If we can offer you a car that has 20 to 25% more fuel efficiency with 20 to 25% less CO2 emission. And it is a wonderful engine for the urban and country environment, and taking into consideration that diesel is 10% less than petrol. Would you buy it?" Not surprisingly, he is confident that the answer to that is "yes".

It should be noted that over half the cars in Europe are running on diesel engines, which leads one to question why it is not the case in Malaysia where - as Mr. Briscoe had already pointed out - diesel is cheaper than petrol. Perhaps this can be attributed to a scenario where diesel passenger cars are not in vogue owing to a lack of demand, and the lack of demand stems from misconceptions about how diesel cars perform.

It is only right to state that the car's performance when using a diesel engine is as good as when it runs on petrol. One case in point which Mr. Briscoe told us was of a friend of his whom he recently invited to test drive a diesel-powered BMW without telling him that it was one. While his friend thought that he was driving a car with a 2.5 litre engine, the fact is that he was driving one with a 2 litre diesel engine and not surprisingly, he was amazed when the truth was revealed.

While the introduction of diesel powered cars by BMW Malaysia is part of its Efficient Dynamics campaign in the Malaysia, it is important to remember that diesel is not the be-all or end-all of the campaign. As such, the decision to launch it in Malaysia stems from the fact that this is where "BMW Malaysia can make the most gains," and as such it will be the main thrust of the campaign in Malaysia.

Of course there have been questions raised as to the whether or not the quality of diesel available in the country is good enough to power premium vehicles like the BMW. Mr. Briscoe opined that while the quality of diesel may not yet be ideal for high-performance diesel vehicles, it works perfectly well for the series of vehicles which will see diesel versions introduced such as the 3-series and the 5-series, as well as one or two models in the 7-series line-up.

Strong confidence in going green

With programmes such as Efficient Dynamics, it is no surprise that BMW has also gained a reputation for being the greenest premium car company in the world, and the CO2 emissions of its cars are - on average - lower than its competitors. This however is not that well known yet in Malaysia, and it is Mr. Briscoe's hope that with the launch of the Efficient Dynamics campaign and the introduction of the diesel-cars, it will be more well-known in Malaysia.

So how confident is BMW Malaysia of the selling points of green cars in the Malaysian market? When we posed this question to Mr. Briscoe, he admitted that if he had to answer that when he first joined BMW Malaysia in 2008, the answer would have been a "no". However, since then, several paradigm shifts have taken place which has enabled him to change his mind. Prime of which is the fact that the Malaysian Government has started showing a stronger commitment to the environment. Furthermore, people, companies and industries have also been looking seriously at going green.

As such, there is confidence that green technology will be a selling point when it comes to automotive sales. Furthermore, while Malaysia may be a major producer of fuel, it is a still a finite resource, and as such will not last forever. As such, fuel efficient vehicles will be infinitely more attractive to people as they will allow them to maximise on the performance of the vehicle while cutting down on costs.

Having said that, Mr. Briscoe also shared that it would be ideal if the Government were to offer some incentives to encourage the sales of more energy efficient cars, and commended the steps taken so far. These include lowering the road tax for diesel cars as well as the price of diesel per se. However, more can be and should be done.

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