KPL
(KPL) The management of Tripetch ISUZU Sales, a partnership between Mitsubishi Corporation and Isuzu Motors (Japan), strongly believes that the marketing strategy it has used for three decades will help ISUZU secure a strong place in the small but tough market of Laos.
B. Thao Phasavath
(KPL) The management of Tripetch ISUZU Sales, a partnership between Mitsubishi Corporation and Isuzu Motors (Japan), strongly believes that the marketing strategy it has used for three decades will help ISUZU secure a strong place in the small but tough market of Laos.
Tripetch ISUZU Sales was established in 1974 as the sole distributor of ISUZU branded pickup trucks, sport utility vehicle (SUV), midsize and full size trucks. Currently the company supervises more than 300 distributors, showrooms and after-sales service centres across Thailand.
In 2016, ISUZU Motors (Japan) authorized Tripetch ISUZU Sales to use its success-proven marketing strategy to secure a strong place – 30% of market share – for ISUZU D-Max and Mu-X models in the pickup and SUV markets in Laos and Cambodia.
In Laos, ISUZU reportedly shares 5% of the pickup market, while Toyota Hilux models hold 80% of the market shares, giving the rest to Ford-Mazda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi, among others.
In an interview with the Lao media last week, Ms Panatda Chennavasin, Executive Vice President of Tripetch ISUZU Sales, said that the marketing activities used by Tripetch ISUZU Sales have become models that are welcomed and copied by the car industry in Thailand. These include ISUZU fuel efficiency caravans, the televised boxing event ‘ISUZU Cup’, rhythm Muay Thai boxing exercise ‘nata mouay thai’for young people, ISUZU Show, and ISUZU Joh Star Contest – a variety show.
“Since the marketing strategy used in Thailand has been very successful, ISUZU representatives from around the world have come to Thailand to learn about the business operation and marketing strategy of the Tripetch ISUZU so that they can apply it to penetrate car markets in their respective countries. Therefore, ISUZU in Thailand currently serves as a marketing school for ISUZU distributors from around the world,” said Chennavasin.
ISUZU launched its D-Max models in 2002 for the first time, with more than 10,000 units sold within 10 days in Thailand, the largest pickup market in the southeast Asia, and more than one million units sold in the country in the next seven years.
In 2011, the company launched an all-new ISUZU D-Max, with more than 15,000 units sold within three days, and an SUV, the ISUZU Mu-X, another flagship model alongside the D-Max in 2013. Over 5,000 ISUZU SUV units were sold within ten days and 20,000 units in the first twelve months after launch.
ISUZU had sold 1 million units by 1997, two million units by 2005, and 3 million by 2012, the year in which it opened its second Thailand-based plant worth US$211 million in the Gateway City Industrial Estate.
On Monday, ISUZU grabbed 8 Car of the Year awards at Bangkok International Motor Show 2017 including four awards announced for Isuzu D-Max 1.9 Ddi Blue Power, one for Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Max 4x4, one for Isuzu MU-X 1.9 Ddi Blue Power, one for Isuzu 1.9 Ddi Blue Power engine, and one for ‘Isuzu Gives Water….for Life’ Project – a corporate social responsibility programme.
KPL
