Thursday, May 26, 2011
Gulf News
Dubai: The AW Rostamani Group will press ahead with possible further plans in India after the recent acquisition of the Honda dealership in Delhi, said a top official. The move is in line with the Dubai-headquartered companys plans to widen its exposure in the emerging markets.
Future possibilities in India will of course depend on the feasibility findings we need to undertake; but we have made a good start from Delhi, said Michel Ayat, CEO of AWR Automotives.
The initial results have been quite promising.
The original dealership in Delhi had been active for 12 years before the Dubai-based group acquired the rights late last year.
On the reasons for the outward move, Ayat said: By next year China will be the No 1 automobile market in the world. If automotive is your main business, you just cannot turn your back on opportunities in the emerging markets.
As a group with decades of experience in the automotive business, it was our philosophy to be associated with the No 1 emerging market. Its also the reason why we got into India.
Strategy rollout
The same expansion mantra is apparent in the groups strategy closer to home. Last December it firmed an alliance with Chinas Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile Co, under which it was able to sell ZNA branded light commercial vehicles, SUVs and MPVs not just in the local market, but in Saudi Arabia and Iraq as well.
The strategy was repeated by signing up for the British marque MG, now owned by Chinese automotive giant SAIC, for the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
These may be niche brands, but this is going to be the future, said Ayat. Lets not forget that we have been in the business for five decades and can bring our own skills to anything new that we attempt.
Arabian Automobiles, the flagship of the group, has been the Nissan dealership for Dubai and the northern emirates over decades and, more recently, also has the local rights for Renault.
With Arabian Automobiles we are committed fully to the Nissan-Renault alliance and will never handle any other brand, said Ayat. But as with any big group, there can be more than one company and thats what we are doing with AWR Trading.
What AWR Trading has achieved in a relatively short span shows that we are firmly on the right track.
By Manoj Nair, Associate Editor
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
