Petronas aims for top spot in Malaysia’s lubricants market

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), through its subsidiary Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PDB), has set its sight on becoming the leading provider for the domestic lubricants business in Malaysia. PDB General Manager for Lubricants Business Division Mohd Shobri Abu Bakar, said that Petronas currently has a 24% market share of the lubricants business in Malaysia, just a few percentage points away from its closest rival, Shell. PDB aims to achieve a 30% market share by 2016. The company plans to achieve its goal by:

• continuously delivering a broad range of superior quality lubricants and car care products
• delivering to customers world-class innovative fluid technology solutions, armed with a strong global strategic alliance
• pursuing high-street segment penetration by providing incentives as it strengthens its partnership with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Cycle & Carriage Bintang, Proton Edar Sdn Bhd, Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd, Naza Group, Suzuki, the Formula One team and Petronas Lubricants International
• continuing to give support to government projects; working with the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism by investing in various equipment for their workshop
• expansion to countries like the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam

With its aggressive growth strategy, the company is determined to be number one by 2016 and hopes to strengthen PDB’s position as the brand of choice in Malaysia and the Southeast Asian region. The company’s optimism is buoyed by a 12% increase in its revenue over the previous year’s performance, due largely to higher average selling prices and increase in sales volume. Despite a 15% increase in product cost, the lubricants business division was able to achieve higher margins through improved portfolio management of higher-quality products. Over-all gross margin increased by 9% over 2010 performance, and overall volume growth was 7%.
Key products of the lubricants business division comprise passenger vehicle lubricants, motorcycle lubricants, commercial vehicle lubricants, as well as industrial and marine lubricants. (August 8, 2012)