Porsche Holding Salzburg assumes responsibility for wholesale operations for Volkswagen Passenger Cars in Malaysia

Salzburg, 1 September 2016 - As part of its ongoing growth strategy, Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS) has begun sales activities in the ASEAN region. Effective 1 September 2016, PHS has assumed responsibility for wholesale operations for Volkswagen Passenger Cars in Malaysia, which until now was handled by a local sales company of Volkswagen.

Following a preparatory phase lasting several months, during which structures and systems were brought in line with PHS standards, Kuala Lumpur-based VPCM (Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia) has now begun operations. The two Managing Directors, Romanian-born Alin Tapalaga (47) and Austrian-born (Styria) Florian Steiner (38), will head the team of 90 employees.

The Malaysian market for new cars currently amounts to approximately 540,000 vehicles per year. Volkswagen operates a production partnership with local partner DRB Hicom at Pekan, where assembly of models such as the Polo, Vento, Passat and Jetta is carried out.

In 2015, new registrations of Volkswagen passenger vehicles in Malaysia amounted to around 6,500 units. "Our goal is to continue to successfully develop the Volkswagen brand in Malaysia, and to increase market share in an ongoing, sustainable manner", said Alain Favey, CEO of the Porsche Holding Salzburg Management Board, commenting on the start of operations in Kuala Lumpur.

This step is part of the ongoing growth strategy of Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS), and will expand its presence into the ASEAN region, alongside its presence in Europe, South America and China.

PHS is Europe's largest automotive retail company, with operations in 26 countries. It represents the brands of the Volkswagen Group in wholesale, retail, and after-sales service. PHS also covers the entire spectrum of automotive distribution operations, including spare parts sales and in-house IT system development. Since March 2011 PHS has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, and applies its decades of automotive industry know-how to the global distribution operations of the Volkswagen Group. As of the end of 2015, PHS employed 33,124 people worldwide, who generated sales of around 670,600 new vehicles and a turnover of 18.8 billion euros.