Chevrolet, a division of American automaker General Motors (GM), has opened a brand experience centre in Yangon and launched a three-tier corporate social responsibility campaign last week as part of what the company billed as “its unique entry strategy in its newest market”.
Chevrolet earlier announced that it would enter Myanmar by appointing Pacific Alpine Myanmar Ltd as their exclusive distributor.
Pacific Alpine Myanmar Ltd plan to establish a distribution network that will begin selling a range of Chevrolet vehicles in January 2014.
The centre is located at the corner of Hledan and Insein road, Kamaryut township, Yangon.
Gustavo Colossi, vice president of sales, marketing and aftersales for GM Southeast Asia Operations, said: “Chevrolet is rapidly expanding its presence across the region, including Laos, Cambodia and now Myanmar. With growing demand for personal transportation, Myanmar offers a great opportunity for our popular lineup of Chevrolet cars and trucks.”
Matthew Toh, chairman of Pacific Alpine Myanmar Ltd, said: “We have a comprehensive plan that will enable Chevrolet to be properly represented in the local market.”
Chevrolet said its sales, service and spare parts (3S) centres will be opening in major cities across Myanmar soon.
A Chevrolet 3S centre housing the Chevrolet Technical Training Academy, which will educate 3S centre employees, is under construction in Yangon, it said.
Colossi said, “The people of Myanmar will appreciate the same high-quality products and services as other Chevrolet customers around the world, such as a mileage-based warranty of up to 100,000 kilometers.”
Chevrolet said through its One-World Futbol (OWF) initiative, the first tier of its three-tier CSR campaign, it is delivering 5,000 virtually indestructible footballs to disadvantaged youth across Myanmar over a six-month period.
In addition, the Chevy Cares program will deliver two Chevrolet vehicles to a selected non-governmental organisation for a period of six months to help it expand its delivery of services to more people over a larger geographic area, the company said.
In the third tier of the campaign, which is focused on education and training, Chevrolet and its partners will donate engines and technical parts to mechanical training colleges in Myanmar to provide practical hands-on training using up-to-date technologies.
“CSR activities allow us to help empower individuals and communities in ways beyond what our vehicles can do,” said Akshay Jaising, Chevrolet sales director for export and Southeast Asia distributor operations.
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.5 million cars and trucks a year.
