SHINGO KATO

GRAY MARKET

Toyota came to Kazakhstan officially in January 2009, though on the road there are a lot of Toyota and Lexus cars. The majority of these vehicles are “gray” imports from the UAE, Japan, and the US.

CATCH UP

Kazakhstan is an importer, and there is no provision of cheap cars. We do, however, expect the Kazakhstani market to catch up quickly.

HERE's LOOKING AT YOU

In 2010, car manufacturer focus was centered on Russia, China, India, and Brazil, and factories were established in these areas. I expect manufacturers to next begin looking at Kazakhstan, and Toyota is one of these manufacturers.

KIRILL KUZNETSOV

THE DEALER

Prior to us there was only one dealer, and that was in Almaty. Now we have a network of six dealers that offers a full range of products and services. Our mother company is Ukrainian and it has more than 15 years of experience distributing Daimler brands in Ukraine.

STRONG BRAND

The brand is strong. Over the crisis period we did not experience a decrease in our sales volume in Kazakhstan, nor did the luxury sector see a decline in general. This is the strength of the brand.

THE EDGE

In the premium segment all the brands offer more or less the same services. Our biggest competitive edge is our products. Our service and level of customer satisfaction is higher than our competitors’.

TAMARA GVOZDEVA

STANDARDS

Renault has very strict service standards, and this was one of the reasons why it entered the market later than others. We teach our partners Renault standards, and we send our personnel to be trained in Moscow by French instructors.

PRESENTING...

In the second half of 2011 we will bring the Renault Fluence and Megane to the market, and in 2012 we will present the Duster—a 4x4 full drive vehicle. During this time our priority is to increase sales and the quality of our service.

WINNING RECOGNITION

Thanks to a successful combination of price and quality, Renault vehicles have won the recognition of consumers, both in Russia and in Kazakhstan. Large companies such as Metro, JTI, Pfizer, and DHL have become our clients.

© The Business Year