Launch of the new Subaru Forester

During the launch, we had a chance to have a chat with Mr Glenn Tan, Executive Director of Tan Chong International.

With this launch, we wanted to do something different and give the media a chance to attend a launch besides our usual launch events in Singapore and Malaysia. At the same time we wanted to take the opportunity to showcase the size of our distribution network.

The launch of the latest 2012 Forester has given us a chance to improve our product line by offering a higher-end product to compete with the continentals. The Forester Turbo will be our main product for this segment and we have given it the highest specs possible to make it a premium product.

Due to the increased COE prices in Singapore, I believe our target market have morphed to those that are considering continental makes. With the launch of our latest Forester Turbo, we want to convince our customers that it has all the features available in the continental makes plus more.

For the Forester, we’re going back to basics and getting customers to visit our showrooms for a test drive. We believe the customers in Cat B (COE for cars above 1,600cc) are less price sensitive and we strongly believe that once they take a drive in the new Forester Turbo, they’ll be convinced that it is up to if not better than the performance of continentals.

For 2013, we expect the available COEs in both categories to continue to be tight. Thus in terms of expansion, we are focusing on our commercial vehicles in Nissan.

Credits: Words & Photos by Benjamin G. Kline & Subaru