International Women’s Day: 7 Questions with Charmain Kwee, Executive Director of the Eurokars Group

Charmain heads the group’s BMW dealership operations in Singapore, which operates in a unique two-dealer environment in Singapore.

We spoke to her to find out more about her, and to understand the special challenges she has faced in her journey thus far, as the youngest female leader in the local car retail space.

Since commencing the role in January 2022, it feels like time has passed by in a blur. Apart from overseeing the Group’s entire operations in Singapore, my focus has been on the newest addition to our portfolio – the BMW dealership. From having to understand the car trade from scratch to managing a multi-faceted business at the same time, all efforts were channelled to ensure that we achieved the milestones necessary to launch the BMW dealership by October 2022.

Being involved in a role that is even more dynamic and engaging compared to my previous career in law, the journey thus far has been fast-paced. I am still running on adrenaline at this point, especially with many more exciting things from the Eurokars team in the coming months.

The first of these will be the move to our new corporate headquarters and retail space to Kung Chung Road in Q3 2023, which consolidates our showroom and maintenance operations for the brands under the Eurokars portfolio.

By reducing the physical proximity between our teams, not only will we enhance existing synergistic interactions, but also establish a miniature BMW world within the Leng Kee automotive belt, with Rolls-Royce, BMW, BMW M and MINI all being represented within a hair’s breadth of each other.

I typically start the day by clearing desk work and emails, as well as attending management meetings. In the afternoons, I make time to engage the Eurokars Auto team at the showroom, to better understand the daily situation on the ground. I also take the opportunity to ensure that the showroom environment is welcoming and comfortable for our visitors.

The remainder of the day is similar to how my mornings go. Once the usual round of meetings ends at about 6pm, I spend the rest of my evenings clearing pending administrative matters and emails.

My weekends are quite like my weekdays. Except that I start the day a little later by having lunch with either my family or friends, before dropping by the showroom to engage with the team and customers, and of course, to check-in on our showroom cat!

The Eurokars Group has had strong relations with the BMW Group as far back as 1995. Other than establishing dealerships for multiple BMW Group brands such as Rolls-Royce, MINI and BMW M both locally and abroad over the years, Eurokars has the experience and expertise in managing a variety of luxury marques, which we are planning to leverage on.

The synergies that could be developed between the other brands under the Eurokars Group’s portfolio is what I feel will allow us to best cater to the various customer segments when bringing these new models to market.

A prime example is the upcoming launch of the BMW XM, which is a Sports Activity Vehicle that combines top luxury with the performance of a BMW M model. This will demonstrate our strengths in appealing to buyers from our luxury marques (like Rolls-Royce) and performance-oriented drivers (which BMW M and McLaren are close to).

Although the natural association with sports cars, and cars in general tends to often be made with men, I have found the car retail space to actually be very gender-neutral.

In fact, a large majority of the senior management team within the Eurokars Group are female, with leaders such as Cheryl Chiok and Renee Chua, our Managing Directors for MINI and Rolls-Royce respectively, and our Group Managing Director, Ong Lay Ling. With this good mix of genders and relatively high female representation, I have not once felt out of place since joining the industry.

For age, especially with the rise of entrepreneurship, I feel that passion in one’s beliefs and perseverance to succeed supersedes any of the traditional limits imposed by age. Successful startups and companies like SecretLab, and more notably Carousell, were founded by and are run by individuals in their 20s and 30s. Hence I feel that enthusiasm for a brand or belief in the product should be the focus, rather than just age.

This might sound rather clichéd, but that would have to be my father (Karsono Kwee, Executive Chairman and founder of the Eurokars Group). For as long as I can remember, he has always put in a large amount of effort and dedication to the business.

However, when I was much younger, I found it hard to understand his tireless work ethic. This changed when I joined the company and got to know him in a professional capacity. Not only have I been able to connect with him better, but I have also come to deeply appreciate and respect his unwavering passion for cars and the industry, as well as his tremendous care and concern for his employees.

Many would know that he treats his employees as if they were an extension to his own family. I recall a technician who has been with us for over 30 years, who once told me that despite having multiple managers over the years, he would “always and only work for one boss - Mr. Kwee”.

Having had a taste of the corporate world as a practicing lawyer in the early days of my career showed me just how much of a difference being valued by one’s superiors can make. Drawing inspiration from my father’s leadership style, I aspire to extend the same level of care and appreciation to the Eurokars family, fostering a culture of support and mutual respect in the years to come.

I feel that the approach for this is not only top down but also bottom up, and could also be applied beyond the pursuit of roles in the automotive industry. As a society, I think that regardless of gender, we should enable each other to follow one’s dreams and passion, and not let the (supposed) norms define each of us.

That being said, this is not just a collective effort but also an individual one – we should not let fear get in the way of trying anything new, even if it may be venturing into a completely different industry. Passion and commitment to paving a path for oneself should be the guiding principle.

From my transition from law school undergrad to practising lawyer and finally onto my current role today, I have come to realise that being in uncomfortable situations can be a catalyst for growth and success.

I would describe my career journey thus far as a series of challenging obstacles. The transition from a law school student, to a fully-fledged associate in commercial disputes, and then the switch in specialities to matrimonial and criminal disputes was a steep climb. At each juncture, I had to embrace the discomfort of having to adapt to a change in environment, start from nought and learn the ropes.

Having decided to join the family business was yet another “ground-zero” situation, but at each of these points in my career journey, what got me out of the deep end was the strong belief in my pursuits. Just like how diamonds are made under pressure, I believe that as long as one remains steadfast and undaunted, one will be able to push through the obstacles and succeed.

In summary, my advice is to overcome the fear of the unknown, and embrace the ensuing discomfort and remain open to change.

Photos by Horizon Drivers' Club

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