Subaru Malaysia Set for Potential Shake-Up: Industry Insiders Reveal Major Changes at Motor Image Group
It’s no secret that Subaru sales have been dwindling in Malaysia over the last few years. A quick look at the numbers from data.gov.my shows the brand expanded rapidly from 2014 to 2018 but then began to stagnate and shrink in the 6 years since. Now there are rumours from the Phillipines that indicate a big management shake-up is taking place.
The website Visor.ph reports that Singaporean Regional Head of Sales for Motor Image Group, Philip Lu will be taking over leadership duties from Glenn Tan, the long-time head of the company and Deputy Chairman of Tan Chong International Ltd.
Industry insiders suggest that this restructuring aims to address longstanding issues within the organization, particularly the centralized decision-making process that has been criticized for hampering local market responsiveness. The move is seen as a potential game-changer for Subaru’s operations in Southeast Asia. This potentially includes Malaysia, where even we have observed higher than average employee turnover rates, with many often citing dissatisfaction with upper management.
It should be noted that none of this is is official yet and even if true there’s no guarantee that Subaru can turn its fortunes around quickly. What we do know is that the Subaru brand has a lot of potential in Malaysia with a strong fanbase, high perceived value and a reputation for good quality vehicles. Motor Image Malaysia, if given more flexibility, may be able to adopt to the new realities of the market which include a more competitive Proton, tax-free fully-imported electric vehicles and big discounts and promos from premium brands.
Earlier this year, we reported that some Subaru dealers in Malaysia were scaling down their operations as sales of the brand were dwindling. The rest of the world already has a third generation XV while Malaysia soldiers on with the older model. The 5th generation Forester facelift also arrived late to Malaysia – just months ahead of the global debut of the 6th generation Forester. The XV and Forester sold here are either locally-assembled or imported from Thailand, but the brand is now looking to move away from South East Asian production and return to importing from Japan.
