Today we’re going to talk about the company that distributes your Toyota and Suzuki cars! 

While known as an automotive distributor, our guest Inchcape was started in 1847 when two merchants from Scotland formed a general merchanting partnership. 

By the next few decades, the firm became one of the early adopters of the internal combustion engine transport revolution, as well as one of the first importers of motorcars into Asia. 

Its modern presence in Asia Pacific started in 1967 with the acquisition of Borneo Motors, a company founded in 1925 to distribute vehicles in Singapore. 

Since then, Inchcape APAC has expanded significantly, with 3,900 employees across the region. It now distributes new vehicles and parts in major markets such as Australia, Brunei, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore just to name a few. 

Its portfolio of OEM brands include Toyota Motor, Subaru, Suzuki, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, and more. 

And it seems like the next couple of years would be interesting for Inchcape, after the firm signed a global strategic partnership with automotive brand GWM in June 2023 to tap what it calls the ‘enormous’ potential of the Indonesian market. But what can we expect on this front? 

Speaking of Indonesia, Inchcape and Indomobile also took over the Mercedez Benz business in Indonesia in April 2023. Why is this the case and how far is Indonesia a key focus area for the firm? What is Inchcape’s grand plan for the region?

On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Ruslan Kinebas, CEO, Inchcape Asia Pacific.