Jochen Goller tells us about BMW AG’s plans for Singapore, especially given the brand is now vindicated as far as not going all-in for EVs is concerned.
It wasn’t easy, but we managed to score a spot in a sit-down session with Mr. Jochen Goller (BMW AG’s Member of the Board of Management for Customer, Brands, Sales) during his whirlwind trip to Singapore and incidentally, his first market visit to the region since his new appointment.
The roundtable was held at Performance Motors Limited’s revamped premises, which has been refreshed in line with BMW’s global “Retail.Next” concept, which aims to connect online browsing, research and vehicle configuration with offline interaction at the boutique.
Jochen is a veteran with BMW and has been with the company for over two decades. Prior to his appointment to the Board of Management, he has gone through quite a few portfolio rotations.
What’s more interesting is, out of his 24 years with the BMW Group, he has spent 18 years outside the HQ in Munich. This means he possesses the necessary hands-on operational readiness to hit the ground running.
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His all-rounded experience encompassed Formula One (when the brand re-entered the sport as BMW-Williams in 1999/2000) to the re-launch of the MINI brand in 2001 (subsequently he would become Global Head of MINI) and also two stints in China totaling 13 years (both before and after the sales boom).
After the humongous China market, surely Singapore and the South-East Asian region have to be pint-sized in comparison, so what brings a Board Member to Singapore?
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“It's a growing market for us, so even though the absolute numbers are not so big, we are hopefully looking at hitting some record numbers in the next two years,” Jochen says.
He continues, “ I think Southeast Asia will be a growing region and this region is perfectly served from Singapore, because from here you can travel easily to anywhere in the region. It is a modern and mature city – the rule of law, political system and society are very stable. If you look at what’s happening globally, there is a lot of turmoil, political unrest and maybe some questionable rules of law. Singapore is very business-friendly, and therefore, it is a choice for quite a few multinational companies.
“Also, Singapore has adopted a sophisticated view of mobility. It is looking at transitioning into electro-mobility, and this is something quite close to our strategy. Not many people know this, but at the moment, we are third in the world after BYD and Tesla in terms of electric car sales. As far as Singapore is concerned, fully-electric vehicles account for 30 per cent of our sales here. And what we learn here regarding EV sales and customer behaviour we can bring to the other markets in the region,” he tells us.
Jochen also had the opportunity to check-out the impressive Eurokars Auto facility, which already incorporates the brand’s latest Retail.Next concept.
Having recently added BMW to its portfolio of brands (which also includes Mazda, MG, Pagani and McLaren), Eurokars Auto now has the full range of BMW Group brands within its umbrella, with Rolls-Royce and MINI as the bookends.
“The new Eurokars Auto building is unbelievable. Also all the brands, Rolls-Royce, BMW and MINI are just next to each other – it is a fantastic “Retail.Next” facility,” he beams.
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At the start of the electric “revolution”, BMW was famously criticised for offering BEV (Battery Electric Vehicles) alongside hybrid and ICE models – especially with more brands jumping on the EV trend-wagon. BMW clearly recognises that different markets embrace EVs at their own pace, so it doesn’t try to ram it down everyone's throats, but instead, maintains a diverse mix of powertrains to cater to different tastes.
“Other OEMs that adjusted their product strategies to go EV-only are now backtracking. BMW has always said the future of the car is electric, but in-between – and for a long time – you will continue to have parallel powertrains. That's why we were heavily criticised when we said we would not be abandoning ICE. We still have plug-in hybrids alongside fully-electric cars and we're going to have a hydrogen car by the end of the decade,” Jochen says.
He adds, “Even then, as a Group, we have an electric car in every segment all the way from the MINI to the BMW i models and then Rolls-Royce. At the same time, we still offer plug-in hybrids and internal combustion engine cars, because we have different customers, different choices, different markets and this strategy seems to be paying-off well.”
Naturally, as huge petrolheads, we veer a little off-course by asking Jochen about Alpina (a small-series manufacturer of modified BMWs just outside Munich), which has been absorbed into the BMW fold.
Although there’s no longer a Singapore dealer for new Alpina models here since the early 2020s, we understand that BMW Eurokars Auto has been handling the service and maintenance needs of existing Alpina owners.
Jochen says, “When you look at the BMW Group, I think one of its strengths is in brand management. From Rolls-Royce to MINI and now Alpina, we always look at the heritage and the roots of the brand. So we take the ingredients, but like we did with Rolls-Royce and with MINI, we add something and basically go beyond what the brand used to be, but of course, what we will do is to honour the tradition of Alpina.”
He cannot elaborate further on Alpina at the moment, but uses Rolls-Royce and MINI as examples.
“When BMW Group took over Rolls-Royce in 2001, the brand was not so strong – it was probably only on par with Bentley at that time. You look at the brand today, and it's moved well beyond its former peers. As for MINI, we have also lifted and elevated it to a different level from before,” he explains.
