Page 42 - Fuels & Lubes International Q2 2013
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Q
TOTAL has been developing lubricants to boost fuel economy. How
do your lubricants deliver this advantage over others in the market?
A
ToTAL has a long history of almost two decades in fuel economy
lubricants development. We have progressively introduced this technology
in heavy duty, then in passenger cars, transmissions, agriculture, public
works and navigation. This long experience of formulation and marketing
of these Fuel Economy solutions is recognized and valued by our
customers.
Q
What specific fuel additives are you developing?
A
Thanks to our portfolio, we are working in TCAP to provide quicker
answers to our Indian customers. Being able to select the right cold flow
improvers for middle distillates requested by Indian refiners or helping
customers to optimize the treatment rate of lubricity additives for low-
sulfur diesel fuel are specific services TCAP is developing.
Q
Do you have plans to be backward integrated in Asia?
A
We are looking for all opportunities to further grow in this region;
organically and externally with new supply chain expansions.
Q
How is lubricant demand shifting in the Asia-Pacific market?
A
In the long run, we expect demand for better fuel efficiency and
environmentally friendly lubricants to increase in the AP market.
Q
What is a key driver in the Asia-Pacific market for the selection
of lubricants? Are consumers looking for specific quality attributes or
brands?
A
Brand awareness is of high importance, which is why we are investing
in our ToTAL brand building initiatives as well as reliability through
TCAP and supply chain projects.
Q
How is TOTAL educating the market on the importance of quality
lubricants over purchasing based on price alone? Is this a corporate
initiative or left to distributors?
A
It’s part of our DNA in a corporate approach. We believe strongly that
finished lubricant is not a commodity market; therefore, with our own
sales force or through our partners/distributors, we always emphasize the
added value created with the selection of our products and our services.
Q
Is the heightened focus on energy consumption affecting the
development and distribution of lubricants in this market?
A
Depending on the countries and markets, the maturity is different
regarding this question. We introduce wherever possible a fuel economy
solution in all our ranges and countries.
Q
Biolubricants are getting more attention worldwide. Do you see this
focus ramping up over the next year?
A
It will take time, linked with legislation which is not yet ready and
mature, and competitive solutions (which is not yet the case). But our
R&D is working on such solutions.
Q
What are TOTAL’s plans to capture a portion of this market? What
is your goal in terms of market share?
A
We are unable to provide information on market share unfortunately.
Q
What do you see as the key challenges for TCAP and for you in
particular as head of TCAP?
A
our greatest challenge will be to avoid duplicating what we are
already doing in Europe and to anticipate the needs of our customers in
the region which means the way we approach our customers has also to
be different. Innovative services will be the key to the future. Another
challenge is to keep up with the size of AP and its pace of growth in
comparison to TCAP, for which we will need to gear up accordingly in a
flexible manner.
our objective is to help our clients to achieve the best results thanks to
our products and our capacity to analyze their technical needs. To do
that we have created a road map which will be shared in 2013 and will
strengthen and enhance our footprint in AP.
A
品牌知名度非常重要，这也是为什么我们通过TACP和供应链项目对道达尔
品牌建设进行投资，并提升可靠性的原因。
Q
道达尔如何向市场传递选择高质量的润滑剂比只看价格更重要这个信息？
这是一项公司的工作还是留给分销商去做？
A
这是我们企业工作方式的DNA之一。我们深信成品润滑剂市场不是一个大
宗商品市场；因此，通过我们自己的销售队伍或通过我们的合作伙伴/分销商，我
们一贯强调选择我们的产品和服务可以带来的价值。
Q
对能耗的日益关注是否影响对在该市场上对润滑剂的开发和销售？
A
这取决于不同的国家和市场，对于这个问题，各市场的成熟度各不相同。只要
有可能，我们尽力在各个产品领域和国家推出可用的燃油经济性解决方案。
Q
生物润滑剂在全球得到了更多的关注。你是否认为这种趋势会在明年变得更
加明显？
A
这要有一段时间，并与立法相关及竞争性解决方案相关，而前者现在还不成
熟，后者的局面还未形成。但我们的研发部门正在进行相关解决方案的工作。
Q
道达尔计划如何占领这个市场？你们的目标市场份额是多少？
A
我们不披露市场份额方面的信息。
Q
你认为TCAP所面临的关键挑战是什么？而你作为TCAP的负责人，关键的挑
战是什么？
A
我们最大的挑战是如何避免重复我们在欧洲已经在做的工作，预见这个地区
的客户的需求意味着我们与客户互动的方式应该不同。创新服务是未来的关键。
另一个挑战是跟上亚太地区规模和增长速度的步伐，对此我们要采用灵活的方
式进行调整。
我们的目标是通过我们的能力来分析他们的需求，从而帮助我们的客户实现最佳
结果。为此，我们制定了2013年的道路图，并将强化和巩固我们在亚太地区的业
务。
FUELS & LUBES INTERNATIONAL
Quarter Two 2013
42
