REPSOL…..if you are a motorcycle enthusiast this is a name that you will instantly recognise as a MotoGP winning bike sponsor. However do you know how big and diversified this petroleum company is? Well probably not as REPSOL has never been in the Malaysian market as they concentrated their market expansion into South America and Europe. A company that originated from Spain, REPSOL is involved in all aspects of petroleum production and their fuel stations can be seen only in Europe in a very big way. Repsol has been fuelling over 100 Moto GP victories since 1995. REPSOL comes to Malaysia in partnership with one of the top admired companies in the region, UMW.
UMW signed an agreement with REPSOL last year, to produce and distribute Repsol lubricants throughout Malaysia, as well as China, Singapore, Brunei, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar. By joining forces with REPSOL, UMW can now target a new segment of consumers – the premium segment, and can look forward to capturing a bigger share of the lubricant market as a whole. REPSOL will be able to leverage upon UMW’s already well-established presence in Asia’s fast-growing markets, to further expand the brand’s global reach.
UWM and REPSOL will be selling passenger car and diesel engine oils, gear & automatic transmission fluids, as well as the brand’s other industrial and ancillary products. UMW expects to begin blending REPSOL lubricants locally by January 2012. Connected with a wider cooperation agreement between UMW and Repsol, the manufacturing of Repsol branded products has also begun at Lubritech’s plant in the Chinese province of Guangdong.
Until local production starts, UMW has imported 530 tonnes of REPSOL products into the country and has been testing the local market since June of 2011. Even without any aggressive marketing campaigns, REPSOL’s good reputation has preceded itself and there have been an encouraging amount of customer interest in its products. The REPSOL UMW working relationship in Malaysia was launched by Datuk Syed Hisham bin Syed Wazir, President & Group CEO, UMW Holdings Berhad together with Mr Carlos Pascual and Ms. Teresa Martin from REPSOL Spain a few days ago.
