Our Corporate Communications staff spend time getting to know Sumitomo Corporation's different business sites around the world, reporting on how the people at those sites work. We will keep you up to date with the world of Sumitomo Corporation, which extends to every corner of the globe.
Kenichi Hirao,
External Affairs and Strategic Planning Team, Corporate Communications Department
After experiencing in marketing at the Automotive Division and Network Division, He was assigned to the Corporate Communications Department in April 2007. Currently, He is in charge of the formulation of mid- to long-term corporate communications strategies, group and global communications, etc. He sometimes enjoy playing golf, while he is also into audio equipment.
Shanghai Baosteel Summit Auto Trading Co., Ltd.
The company conducts auto dealer business in Shanghai, China. It handles several brands, including Toyota and Audi, and currently owns a total of nine dealerships in the Baoshan region, Shanghai (six dealerships), Jiaxing (Zhejiang Province), Wuxi and Zhenjiang (Jiangsu Province). It is a joint venture of Sumitomo Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation (China) Holding Ltd. (our locally incorporated company), and Baosteel Group Corporation, a leading Chinese state-owned iron and steel company. We took a stake in the company in 2007 and now hold a 49% stake.
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At the front desk, from left, Mr. Minoguchi from Sumitomo Corporation with Mr. Ma from Sumitomo Corporation (China) Holding Ltd.
On December 1, 2009, I had the chance to visit Shanghai Baosteel Summit Auto Trading Co., Ltd., which conducts auto dealer business in Shanghai. The company is a joint venture with Baosteel Group Corporation (hereinafter, "Baosteel Group"), a leading Chinese state-owned iron and steel company, and we took stake in the company in 2007 with Sumitomo Corporation (China) Holding Ltd., our local corporation.
Mr. Minoguchi is stationed on the ground from Sumitomo Corporation as Executive Vice President of the company, and Mr. Ma is dispatched to the company from Sumitomo Corporation (China) Holding Ltd. to serve as Manager.
Sumitomo Corporation's experience of auto dealer business
Shanghai Baosteel Summit Auto Trading owns nine dealerships mainly in the Baoshan region, which is about 40 minutes north by car from the center of Shanghai City. When I visited the company, I met with Mr. Minoguchi. He joined Sumitomo Corporation in 1984 and has been consistently engaged in the auto business. He has experience working in Beijing and conducting auto dealer business in South Africa and is well-versed in Chinese business protocols and the auto business, in particular, dealer operations.
A Toyota dealership
Sumitomo Corporation has developed a variety of operations in the auto dealer business. As business models of general trading companies have diversified since the 1980s, regarding the auto business, Sumitomo Corporation has actively participated in downstream fields, including the dealer business and finance & leasing business, in addition to entering fields upstream, including the overseas plants and parts business. Against this background, our dealer operations have experience in developing within various regions, such as Southeast Asia including Thailand and Vietnam, Europe and the United States, Australia, and South Africa.
Audi dealership's service factory is large, in common to the company's other service factories, and the well-organized workplace is impressive.
Generally, when developing stores, there are strategies to narrow down regions, and also there are strategies for expanding business to many regions at a stretch. When I asked Mr. Minoguchi about the strategy in Shanghai, he definitely replied, "Our first step is to conduct intensive development of stores in the northern part of Shanghai." To me, who took a dubious stance, wondering why they would develop business focusing on only a few regions in such an extensive market, he explained the intent of the strategy with confidence.
"What our company attaches great importance to is increasing customers' satisfaction and winning them over. We don't just sell cars. We think that the greatest wealth of our business is to establish relationships with customers that will make them our repeat customers including in regard to after-sales services."
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Business nurtured based on relationships of trust with business partners
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