New MINI Habitat opens at a new home...

Attending the inauguration on New Year’s Eve, Mr Klaus Berning, Vice-President, Sales Region Asia, Pacific, Africa & East Europe said, “MINI is the BMW Group’s premium brand in the small car segment and its timeless yet unconventional nature has always captivated the excitement and imagination of customers all over the world. We expect the same enthusiastic response from the Singapore market, especially with the introduction of exciting new editions like the Seven, Park Lane and Checkmate,”

The Managing Director of BMW Asia Pte Ltd, Mr Roland Krueger, acknowledged the "great job" done by the previous distributor, Performance Motors Pte Ltd in marketing the MINI. “On behalf of the BMW Group, I want to thank them for making the MINI brand name an iconic one in Singapore. I am also looking forward to MINI going even further under the charge of Trans Eurokars.”

Dedicated to MINI

Welcoming MINI enthusiasts to the brand’s new home, the Executive Chairman of the Trans Eurokars Group of Companies, Mr Karsono Kwee said, “We are delighted to have the honour of launching the new distributorship for MINI in Singapore. MINI Habitat is a unique statement of Trans Eurokars’ commitment to the MINI brand. MINI owners and their cars now have a dedicated ‘home’.

Additionally, MINI Habitat is a convenient social hub for current and future MINI owners, showcasing the latest in MINI cars and lifestyle accessories, and offers numerous event possibilities.

“We are working closely with the MINI owners’ club to provide added value, and with the new facility, we see opportunities to use MINI Habitat as a location for future events and product launches that have good synergies with the MINI brand and owners,” said Ms Diana Sin, General Manager for the MINI Division, Trans Eurokars Pte Ltd.

Tender Loving Care, MINI style

Customers can look forward to a dedicated MINI Habitat Service and Parts workshop that is fully equipped with the latest in equipment and processes, conforming to the high standards of the BMW Group’s Dealer Management System (DMS).

Nine service bays and wireless diagnostics allow for improved accuracy and efficiency in servicing MINI cars. Combined with a computerised key reader that captures the service history on a car, an experienced service team, service bookings via the internet, key-drop service, optional home pickup and delivery service, plus 24-hour roadside assistance, Trans Eurokars will be ensuring that MINI owners receive customer service of the highest standards.

“As part of our ongoing measures to continuously improve our after-sales service, we will be monitoring our CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) closely,” said Ms Sin.

New MINI owners can also opt to have their cars come with MSI (MINI Service Inclusive), which covers the cost of servicing and maintenance work, original MINI parts, oil and labour costs.

New MINI cars revealed

In conjunction with the launch, new editions of MINI were introduced for the first time to Singapore.

The MINI Park Lane (exclusive), the MINI Checkmate (sporting) and the MINI Seven (lifestyle orientation) extend the MINI range. Offering a high level of features and equipment, exclusive metallic paintwork, new wheels, upholstery, design features and interior surfaces, the three new editions offer customers in Singapore even more MINI choices.

Designed to reflect the MINI brand’s fun and exciting personality, the new MINI Habitat showcases the entire MINI model range – from the MINI One, MINI Cooper to the performance-oriented MINI Cooper S. It also hosts the innovative MINI Collection, which includes clothing, eyewear, bags, caps, watches and miniatures.

MINI sales have gone from strength to strength since the brand’s 2001 launch in Singapore. New model introductions have included cabrio versions for the Cooper and Cooper ‘S’ and CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) variants.

In October 2005, global MINI sales increased by 12 per cent to 159,413. Since the start of production in April 2001, 766,290 MINI cars have rolled off the production line and been delivered to owners in over 70 different countries.

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Background:

Trans Eurokars Pte Ltd takes over as exclusive distributor of MINI cars from Performance Motors Ltd.

‘MINI Habitat’ was coined at 1am, one particularly late evening at the Sungei Kadut office of Trans Eurokars, when its management was brainstorming its concept for MINI. BMW Asia Management picked this up at a Trans Eurokars presentation, and the rest is history, as they say.

The MINI Habitat showroom is open 7 days a week from Mondays to Saturdays (9.00am to 8.00pm), and Sundays (10.00am to 6.00pm).

MINI Service is available from Mondays to Fridays (8.30am to 5.30pm) and Saturdays (8.30am to 12.30pm).

MINI Sales and Service: T: +65 6473 3777 F: +65 6473 0500

About Trans Eurokars Pte Ltd:

Trans Eurokars Pte Ltd is the holding company of the Eurokars Group of Companies, established in 1985. In spite of its relative youth, the Group is one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic distributors of premium automotive brands in Singapore, increasing sales for Porsche by 70% in 2004 compared to 2001and by 45% for Opel in the same year, compared with 2003. It will add MINI to the four other marques it distributes – Porsche, Saab, Opel, and Rolls-Royce (another premium brand of the BMW Group).

It is the first and only automotive company to be recognised as a DBS Enterprise Top 50 company, in 2004. That year, it also won the Rolls Royce Demonstrator Incentive Award (Best Performing Dealer in the Region).



Despite a difficult market affected by economic fluctuations, entrepreneur Karsono Kwee has steered the Group – which began with the Porsche distributorship - from success to success. Stuttgart Auto Pte Ltd, a company owned by Trans Eurokars Pte Ltd, is the leading distributor in Singapore for the luxury sports car segment.

The Group's rapid expansion over the past 20 years, in terms of markets and brands, is testimony to its rock-solid foundation of marketing, customer focus and excellence in sales and after-sales efforts.

It also operates in Indonesia where PT Eurokars Chrisdeco Utama has been the exclusive dealer for BMW in Western Jakarta since July 2004. The Eurokars Group of companies distributes BMW, Porsche, Rolls Royce and Saab cars in Indonesia. It is planning to set up the first exclusive BMW ‘M’ Centre in Indonesia.

Customer loyalty is crucial to Trans Eurokars. Marketing programmes are carefully crafted and executed to retain existing customers while actively acquiring new ones. Trans Eurokars aims to achieve the highest standard of sales and customer service for the benefit of customers.

Trans Eurokars currently has five strategically located centres in Central, North and East Singapore; at Leng Kee Road (MINI, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, and Saab), Sungei Kadut (Porsche, Saab) and Ubi Close (Opel) respectively.

For further information, please contact:
The MINI Division, Trans Eurokars Pte Ltd
Diana Sin, General Manager
Tel: (+65) 6360 2833; Fax: (+65) 6369 3003; Mobile: (+65) 9680 2727
Email: diana.sin@eurokars.com.sg

Fleishman Hillard Singapore Pte Ltd (on behalf of BMW Asia Pte Ltd)
Hal Serudin
Telephone: (+65) 6424 6377, Fax: (+65) 6424 6355, Mobile: (+65) 8161 2843
E-mail: serudinh@fleishman.com
Media Website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
Customer Website: www.mini.com.sg

Credits: Eber