By Alex Luft
GM Authority
On Monday, General Motors entered the Kingdom of Cambodia — a country situated in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. The General has officially launched the Chevrolet brand in the country by launching its first dealership in Phnom Penh — the country’s capital and largest city.
According to president of GM’s Southeast Asia Operations Martin Apfel, the firm’s expansion to the country was thanks to its rapid economic growth in last decade as well as high demand in brand new cars. Coincidentally, the demand for new cars in Cambodia is roughly 2,000 units a year, while annual demand for used cars is about 20,000 units. Mr. Apfel also stated that the Cambodian auto industry is expected to grow by 15 percent in 2013.
Cambodia’s United Auto Trading will be the exclusive distributor of Chevrolet cars in the country.
“Cambodian automotive market is small, but growing rapidly,” said chairman of United Auto Trading Tong Norm.
Meanwhile, Cambodia’s Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said during the launch event that the presence of Chevrolet reflected investors’ confidence in Cambodia’s security and political stability as well as good business opportunity.
Chevy has yet to announce the models it will offer in Cambodia, but sources have tipped us that the Sail, Sonic/Aveo, Cruze and Spark will likely round out The Bow Tie brand’s lineup in the country. We will update this article as soon as we get word on the official lineup.
The GM Authority Take
Even though 2,000 new car sales a year might seem like peanuts compared to high sales volume markets such as the United States, China, or Europe, The General is in the expansionary phase of its recovery — and it needs all the sales it can get — especially if it plans on winning back the “biggest global automaker” title rom Toyota and/or VW.
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