Euromobil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON), today celebrated its 20th anniversary of association with Audi. The dealership was set up in 2002 to handle the German brand as distributor and provided sales and aftersales services to Malaysian customers.
Its 20th anniversary celebration took place today at the Audi Centre in Glenmarie, Selangor, and had a football theme to coincide with the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Some 200 guests, including Audi owners, were invited for the event to mark the company’s milestone.
Malaysians know Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad or EON very well. After all, it was the company that was established together with Proton and given the responsibility to distribute and market the National Car. While things have changed over the years, EON (a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM Berhad) is still the largest dealer chain handling Proton products today.
Over the years, EON has continuously evolved as times have changed. Even its logo has undergone refreshing periodically while its retail outlets and service centres have been upgraded.
Although EON has been involved in other brands (such as Volkswagen, Audi and Mitsubishi), Proton is still its most important and in view of this, the company now has a dedicated Proton Division website. Created with the user experience in mind, the newly-designed website includes many features to help users quickly and easily navigate and browse for the many Proton models.
Everything to do with Proton
The integrated platform allows customers to find out about the latest promotions, book a test drive, reserve their next service appointment and even calculate monthly instalments for vehicle loans. They can do all this from a smartphone or tablet in the comfort of their home or office, or even a restaurant (when we can dine-in again).
Akkbar Danial, Head of Automotive Distribution of DRB-HICOM and Chief Executive Officer of EON, believes that the possibilities are endless for brands with a strong online presence as a website not only provides massive opportunity for business growth, but is also at the heart of the car buying process today.
“A new website was overdue. With over 80% of Malaysian car buyers doing their research online before making a purchase, it is only logical to have a website, and a good one that works well on personal computers, smartphones and tablets,” he said, adding that there is also a virtual showroom to visit when showrooms are closed for any reason.
“As the single largest Proton dealer in Malaysia, we aim to be the preferred automobile dealer nationwide by positioning ourselves and bringing customers to the forefront of our ‘stores’. Through the website, the most accurate, up-to-date information and promotions regarding our products are easily accessible for our current and prospective customers to make informed car-buying decisions,” Encik Akkbar added.
Beyond distribution and an extensive after-sales network, EON also provides customised solutions for corporate clients under the Proton Fleet Programme, targeted at fleet operators.
Latest campaign from EON
In conjunction with the launch of the new website, EON is partnering with Shell Malaysia in a campaign that offers Shell Vouchers as a token of appreciation. The campaign is for all customers who place a booking and register their new Proton vehicle with EON outlets from August 1 until October 31, 2021. The vouchers, which can be used nationwide for purchases of fuel as well as items at Shell SELECT Stores (excluding tobacco products, e-Pay reloads and Touch ‘N Go top-ups), will be valid until February 28, 2022.
Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON) has formed a strategic partnership with myTukar, a used car online selling platform, for vehicle trade-in activities. Under the agreement, myTukar will facilitate the end-to-end trade-in process for EON’s customers via certified myTukar inspectors performing vehicle inspections on-demand for its customers.
EON, a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM Berhad, operates dealerships for several brands namely Proton, Mitsubishi Motors, Audi and Volkswagen, via EON, EON Automart, Euromobil and HICOM Auto, respectively, through a network of 20 branches nationwide.
myTukar inspection centre.
Enhancing services to EON customers
Fong Hon Sum, myTukar CEO believes the partnership will benefit from EON’s established distributor network, while providing EON the opportunity to enhance their service to customers. “myTukar is honoured to embark on this partnership journey with one of Malaysia’s most diverse conglomerates with a comprehensive automotive business,” he said.
“ The collaboration will enable EON to leverage on myTukar’s proprietary technology-enabled platform to provide EON’s customers with instant and transparent valuations for trade-in vehicles. This will enhance customer experience at EON’s network because they are now effectively a one-stop solution centre,” added Mr. Fong.
EON is a subsidiary of the DRB-HICOM Group and is associated with a number of automotive brands.
Win-win situation for both parties
Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar, Group MD of DRB-HICOM, echoed Fong’s belief, stating that the partnership is a win-win situation that provides both parties with tremendous potential and possibilities.
“There is great synergy in this partnership and we are very pleased indeed to have found a like-minded partner in myTukar. Trade-ins has always been a sore point for car buyers, who today are increasingly demanding a more transparent and simplified process in their transactions. We believe myTukar’s innovative trade-in system will help boost sales of new automobiles across our branches, and more importantly enhance the overall customer experience at all our outlets. This will lead us to create more value for our customers,” said Tuan Syed Faisal.
The collaboration with EON will cover on Peninsular Malaysia initially. However, myTukar has been on an aggressive expansion drive this year with the opening of 7 new branches throughout the country. Further expansion to East Malaysia, starting with Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, is also in the pipeline, which should be beneficial to EON in the future.
myTukar is the first within the used car online trading platform in Malaysia to be awarded an ISO 9001:2015 Certification for Quality Management Systems. The certification is part of myTukar’s continuous effort in ensuring the highest levels of quality, trust and transparency throughout all stages of car selling on the innovative technology-enabled platform, to complement its ongoing expansion.
A number of companies, even global ones, have changed their corporate logo over the past year and Edaran Otomobil Nasional, a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM Berhad, joins them this month.
The new logo is the third one for the company, better known as ‘EON’, since it was established in 1984. The first change after that was in 1990. The new logo is a total departure from EON’s previous logo. It sports a stylised red ‘E’ that sits within a blue diamond, showing a forward-movement motion.
‘Coming of age’
The company’s acronym ‘EON’ also appears on a more modern font. The company says this signifies the brand’s coming of age after more than 30 years in the automotive distribution business in Malaysia.
The red ‘E’ is said to depict the boldness of the brand that retails a number of automotive brands in Malaysia. The blue diamond is a show of strength for the 36-year-old brand, as well as the typical traits that are associated with the colour blue: loyalty and wisdom.
EON was originally set up the handle distribution and marketing activities in the domestic market when the Proton Saga was launched.
EON was originally established to handle domestic distribution and marketing of Proton cars. When the role was taken over by Proton Edar, which was a subsidiary of Proton, EON became a super dealer chain as it had the most Proton outlets in the country.
With the change in its role, EON took on other brands to represent, namely Audi, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi. The other brands are sold by subsidiaries of EON. Additionally, the company also operates the Avis car rental and leasing network in Malaysia.
Euromobil, an EON subsidiary, handles Audi.
9 Proton outlets
Along with the new logo, EON has announced the commencement of their Proton retailing business. EON now owns nine Proton dealerships, including four 4S (sales, service, spares and spray-painting) centres and three 3S outlets. Four branches are in the central region, while there are two each are in Johor and Penang. The outlets were formerly owned by Proton Edar.
