Surprising news folks. Smart cars, the very tiny car manufacturer is back via Proton New Energy Technology Sdn. Bhd. (PRO-NET), a subsidiary of Proton cars and Hap Seng Group (as its first dealer). The company which was formed to promote and market New Energy Vehicle (NEV) from the Proton and Geely joint venture has hit an important milestone here in its development of pushing such vehicles with the appointment of its first authorized dealer, Hap Seng Smart Sdn. Bhd. Note that Smart vehicles was a joint venture project started out by Mercedes-Benz with watch manufacturer Swatch Group but since 2019 has been a partnership arrangement with Geely to promote and sell Smart badged cars globally.
Styling concept of the new Smart showroom at Hap Seng Star's Mercedes-Benz Autohaus in Balakong
Since PRO-NET is a Proton subsidiary, they are the official importer and distributor for smart vehicles in Malaysia and Thailand. ThE appointment will feature PRO-NET’s all-new innovative electric vehicles (EV), smart #1’s premium brand presence in this country by end of 2023 so this news about Hap Seng Smart as their first Malaysian dealer is quite a good tie up back to Mercedes-Benz as Hap Seng is one, if not the largest Mercedes-Benz dealers in the country.
The dealer appointment comes as part of smart Malaysia’s strategy to bring the EV automotive excellence to the Malaysian market which consists of two components – the appointment of new premium dealers and the establishment of all-new smart Brand Centre or smart Space. Now with Hap Seng Smart as the first appointed smart dealer, the appointment reflects PRO-NET’s commitment to penetrate the premium market as well as to be the leading EV automotive brands in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Hap Seng Smart will leverage on the technical expertise of the parent company, Hap Seng Group which has established a foothold as one of the leading automotive dealers in Malaysia with over 50 years of history in automotive retailing and with their inclusion into the smart EV family, the new dealership will enhance smart’s brand visibility and awareness in the central region. The first showroom is scheduled to be opened sometime in the fourth quarter on this year at Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur followed by another showroom in Balakong, Selangor. This is most likely close to where the current Mercedes-Benz showrooms are and would actually be a strategic move to capitalise on the current customer base.
“PRO-NET believes automotive excellence is more than creating the best vehicles. It also means providing a seamless and comprehensive retail customer journey and experience. The new dealership marks PRO-NET’s entry into the premium retail automotive market, as well as the latest EV market in Malaysia,” said Zhang Qiang, CEO of PRO-NET.
Harald Behrend, Group Chief Operating Officer of Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad and Chief Executive of Hap Seng Automotive Division, expressed his excitement for this new chapter with PRO-NET, stating that it aligns with their aim to be at the forefront of the EV industry and support Malaysia’s EV aspiration.
“This partnership between Hap Seng Group through Hap Seng Smart and PRO-NET reflects notonly our confidence in smart’s universal appeal but also shows our commitment to promote a low- carbon mobility future in Malaysia,” said Harald.
The Hap Seng Group has grown to become one of the leading Mercedes-Benz dealers in Malaysia. Hap Seng Group’s relationship with the Mercedes-Benz brand started back in 1969 as an authorised dealer for Mercedes-Benz trucks, buses, passenger vehicles as well as spare parts. The Hap Seng Group will offer a premium automotive retail experience that is in line with smart’s brand, the Mercedes-designed EV, coming to Malaysian shores in 2023. This comes in the form of the Smart #1 battery electric compact car.
The smart #1 is a collaboration between Smart and the Mercedes-Benz design team, is a fully electric powered compact B segment/supermini car that has a range of betwen 420 to 440km. It was recently launched sometime in 2022 and was recently awarded the 5 star Euro NCAP rating for safety. This isn't the Smart cars that we used to see before but with more space, a different source of power unit and also more performance. While the smaller Smart ForTwo is still being produced over in Europe, the brand only produces fully electric versions of those cars also. And most likely it is best in terms of costing that the largest Smart of them all (currently, the #1 is the model they are bringing in.
Being related to Mercedes-Benz, a very premium in the eyes of the South-East Asian consumer, it makes sense that the first dealers for Smart is a Mercedes- Benz dealership. The notable partnership with Hap Seng Smart marks PRO-NET’s entry into Malaysian premium retail automotive market. smart will continue to work with outstanding business partners in the industry to introduce the premium brand experiences, products, and services.
“Our team is making amazing progress ever since we began the journey last year, and we are very confident that the Malaysian market will embrace the unique, premium all-electric urban mobility experience by smart," added Zhang Qiang.
Meanwhile, more dealers are coming on board and the names will be announced soon. So while we had seen Smart cars here in Malaysia over the years, these were tiny compact city cars. Now via PRO-NET, it looks like the range of vehicles that will be brought into Malaysia are alternative
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