By Derryn Wong and Andy Hum

EXTREMELY SHARP, ACUTE and also handsome are the words that have been used to describe Dr Zeno Kerschbaumer, Volkswagen Group Singapore’s new managing director. Dr Kerschbaumer, a 47-year-old German-born Italian, takes over his predecessor, Olaf Duebel, who also holds the prestigious ‘doctor’ title and had been in Singapore for over six years. But being new in the position doesn’t mean Dr Kerschbaumer is new to the local conditions – he was previously the executive director of international sales at Volkswagen AG in Singapore from 2004 to 2005, and was the director of business development and strategy for Volkswagen, prior to his current role as managing director.

CarBuyer caught up with the new boss in town and talked about what his experiences here were like and how he intends to develop the brand in Singapore.

CarBuyer: How happy are you with the current market share of Volkswagen in Singapore?

Zeno Kerschbaumer: We are simply delighted with the development of the Volkswagen brand in terms of performance gains but at the same time we are also never completely satisfied, so we’re always looking fully ahead for ways to improve our business.
So the response from Singaporean customers has been really good, and of course, we also have ambitious plans.

CB: VW is, literally, the peoples’ car. In Europe, it’s a mass-market brand, but over here it occupies more of a semi-premium, Continental position. Where do you see your main competition coming from?

ZK: We are clearly focusing on the leaders, on a worldwide scale. VW is a mass-producer of cars and we want to make that even truer.

When it comes to Asean, we are suffering the smallest market share compared to other places. In Singapore and Hong Kong, we began a couple of years ago with a certain strategy (semi-premium) and it has worked. We’re not a market player just yet, but we are in the top ten and looking to further enhance the business.

For Singapore, and this is also the case in Japan, we situated ourselves as the bridge between local cars and Continental ones. We are fine with this, and in a sense we’re covering this whole bridge (with our model range) – starting with the Polo all the way up to the Phaeton.
So I think we have an option for every customer who wants to make the move into the Continental sector.

CB: Is there a concrete plan for the company to achieve a greater share of the market, despite barriers like the Euro exchange rate and such?

ZK: Of course the Euro is a barrier, on the other hand we have to balance things by looking at market share and also our profits. Exchange rates aren’t a main issue here though, look at what happened when we introduced TSI (turbocharged stratified injection) and DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox, dual-clutch technology) to the market – people realised the premium that we ask for our cars is well worth it.

They get the latest technology which, for example, gives fuel-efficiency so they benefit each time they go back to the petrol station. Moreover the resale value of our cars is amongst the highest around – so buying a VW is a good deal.

More recently though, I’d say we have been shifting our prices more towards the Asian competition rather than becoming more expensive. I think people are perceiving this, or beginning to do so.

CB: How about in the short-term, immediate future?

ZK: We’ll be launching the new Polo very soon, pricing will be out in a month, and the car has become better in every respect. We’re aiming it at not just young drivers, but young families also because of the increase in space.

But it’s a good example of what we want to do – that is to bring top-class technology to the mass-market. It’s not just about premium (sector), in the Polo we will have a seven-speed DSG in a small car, and this is one of the proofs.

CB: On a more personal note, how do you see your own management style?

ZK: It’s all about teamwork, really. It’s like a battle, I need to manage this battle and see the big picture, but it’s really the team before everything else. Of course I’ll be the voice and face but without my team behind me, I’m nothing.

CB: We spoke to Porsche Asia-Pacific managing director Christer Ekberg about the VW-Porsche developments, where Porsche will become a brand under the VW Group. He welcomed it as a very good thing, what’s your take on the situation?

ZK: I can only say this is a wise move, the merger, and to a certain extent a very natural one, as in history there has always been a connection between the two companies. Moreover we’ve have big co-operation in the recent years, with the Cayenne-Touareg collaboration.
We can take Skoda as an example, which at the start was almost bad, but now is a shining example for Europe – Skoda has this year beaten Toyota in the German market. It’s a shining brand, which we built up almost from scratch really. Same thing with Audi, compared to what it was twenty or thirty years ago. But this wasn’t only because of VW, but the philosophy that the group gave, behind the brand.

CB: VW’s track record at managing brands – Audi, Bugatti, Skoda, Bentley, shows it is certainly good at doing so. But do you think there is a danger of homogeneity arising?

ZK: These were concerns when we acquired Skoda and Lamborghini and Bentley, and so on. But it’s proven that we are able to manage this. Of course, well you never know. It’d be nice to know upfront, whether you go in the correct direction or not, but with Porsche it’ll take some time to see.

CB: A lot of technology found in example, Skodas, can be seen in VW products too. There is some overlap to the strategy here…

ZK: Skoda made it’s own way in European markets, with the shared technology of course, but with a clear brand and marketing policy of its own.
Of course in certain customer groups there will be an overlap, but the total situation is much bigger, more important. So for example in Western Europe, all in all, the market share for the group is rising nonetheless.
The other important thing is we are still targeting the competition, not only brands outside of the group but inside too – internal competition is one of our strengths, we like to fight each other! (laughs)