KUALA LUMPUR: Chevron Malaysia Ltd, marketer of the Caltex brand, is expected to open 10-15 new petrol stations this year in order to increase its sales pipeline in Peninsular Malaysia.
Deputy general manager Malaysia/Singapore/Cambodia Jeff Tan Meng Yih said working on the retailer-owned retailer-operate model was one way to strengthen its presence in the country and with more pipelines, more licences can be issued to dealers interested in opening and operating a petrol station.
“It takes about two to three years to set up one petrol station from a greenfield. So, the more we sign up to open a station, more dealers and investors will be able to take up our brand,” he told reporters after launching the True Power from Within promotion in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the blockbuster movie, Transformers.
He said seven stations out of the 15 planned were already up and operating, bringing the total to 420 stations nationwide.
Tan said the cost of opening each station ranged between RM10mil and RM20mil, depending on the location.
On news reports that petrol station operators were giving up their dealership as they could not cope with the weekly swing in retail fuel prices, Tan said the company had not received any feedback on the matter from its dealers.
The Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) president Datuk Khairul Annuar Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying that some 30 to 40 petrol stations ceased operations since the abolition of fuel subsidies in December 2014.
“I think the weekly announcements made by the Government on April 1, is more manageable to consumers and dealers rather than the monthly ones which may have an impact,” said Tan.
Meanwhile in terms of growth, area business manager (Asia Pacific cluster) Asim Khan said the company is expecting double digit growth and the lubricant industry is expected to grow by 2% to 3%.
“The lubricant business is one key growth area that we are investing in quite a bit, globally, and also for Malaysia.
“We cannot disclose how much Malaysia contributed to the group’s business, but it is suffice to say that this region has played quite a substantial role in the growth and will continue to grow,” said Khan.
Consumers and fans of Transformers can purchase selected Havoline, Delo and Techron products to stand a chance to win prizes during the promotion which would end on July 31. - Bernama
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