KL Lee Tyre Auto Services, the sub-dealer of Monti Tyre Sdn Bhd that is the Apollo tyres central region distributor, recently joined the Apollo Branded Store family. The proprietor, Lee Kang Ling, changed the signage of his tyre service centre, located in Batu Belah, Klang, to that of Apollo.
“I have been in the tyre industry for 21 years, from an apprentice to shop manager. After accumulating sufficient experience, I set up my own business. I got to know the Apollo brand from its sales personnel. Apollo is not a new brand in Malaysia and was first introduced here about 10 years ago. But after a while, the brand fell off the map. Today, with the establishment of Apollo Tyres Malaysia and the aggressive marketing, it is obvious that the Apollo brand is actually making a comeback,” said Lee.
Comparing the Apollo brand of tyres to the major brands, Lee said the pricing of Apollo tyres was about 30 to 40 per cent lower than the major ones, but the quality and performance were good. In addition, all Apollo tyres came with a One Year Unconditional Warranty that covered road hazard damage and defects, which allowed consumers to drive with confidence and peace of mind.
“This programme greatly enhanced the confidence of consumers, especially the new ones. The increasing sales from returning customers also proved that the customers are happy with the products and after-sales service that we provide. No hassle in the event of claims. In fact, the claim rate is extremely low. New customers are gained through word of mouth.”
As to the reason for changing the original signage that he had carried for about 4 years to Apollo, he said it was mainly because of the potential that he could see in this brand. “Apollo is still not that popular in the local market. Currently, there are not many tyre shops that carry the Apollo signage. We see the potential in growing the brand in Malaysia, with the strong support from Monti Tyre and Apollo Tyres Malaysia.”
Meanwhile, Han Ter Kwang, Managing Director of Monti Tyre Sdn Bhd, said: “Though our company is quite new, our sales team is very experienced in the tyre trade. In the early stage of promoting Apollo tyres, we relied on the strong relationships of our existing contacts and they supported us initially by buying a small quantity. After they sold the tyres and received excellent feedback, they came back to us to order more tyres. Their confidence in Apollo quickly grew, especially backed by the One Year Unconditional Warranty programme. Even then, the damaged tyre claims under this programme were less than 0.1 per cent. These were tyre damage claims caused by road hazards and were not related to product quality issues.”
