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AMW holds annual dealer convention

The Associated Motorways Private Limited (AMW) Annual Dealer Convention 2012, drew a large number of leading tyre dealers and sales and marketing team members from across the country. The event themed "One Journey, One Victory" embodies AMW's strong network of partner dealers and their success over the years.

Twenty five dealers were awarded for having excelled in retreading tyre sales in brands of Marathon and Hi - miller, and the top ten dealers in their performance for Epic Trimax three wheel tyre brand. Held over a span of two days, the Annual Dealer Convention 2012 set the stage for a large network of dealer partners and families to interact. This year's convention offered the dealers a different and unique experience, comprising of entertainment items and a beauty culture work-shop for dealer families.

The AMW Dealer Convention was also held to coincide with another successful sales promotion campaign, with the aim of recognizing the highest retread sales contributing dealers. AMW Marathon branded Gold Coins were distributed among the winners. Other activities at the convention also included the revelation of a new brand logo, versatile MARATHON DAG rebuild tyres.

Kithsiri Bandara of Supiri Tyre Works, Kandy was awarded the 'Best Dealer of the Year' for the Retread Tyre segment, Gamini Lokubalasuriya of Gamini Tyre Traders, Gampaha and Newton Pieris of M.J.R Peiris and Sons, Kandy were awarded the second and third best dealer awards at the convention. All three winners were presented with Return Air Tickets to Bangkok in addition to Gold Coins and other valuable gifts.

Commenting at the Dealer Convention, Senior Manager Sales and Marketing, Nimal Ratnayake said: "It is with great pleasure that we welcome all participants of this year's convention. At AMW we believe that dealer performance is key and vital to our growth. The group continues to grow year on year, further expanding into dealerships and premium products and strategic diversification of services in the country."

Chief Guest and AMW Group Managing Director, Mr. Samantha Rajapaksa said: "AMW, has taken great strides to ensure a quality offering to customers. Whether it's our world-class vehicles, tyre brands, financial services, spare parts, or after sales service quality we maintain high quality standards across all functions. Our dealers have been a critical element in helping maintain these standards. Their trust and tireless efforts have helped us grow the AMW brand from strength to strength over the years. The awards acknowledge their hard work and commitment in taking us forward towards 'one victory'. I would like to thank all our dealers for joining us in celebrating the strong partnership that we share."

Acknowledging the role of the dealer network, Director Manufacturing, Mr. Pushpika Janadheera said: "Our dealers have helped us achieve continuous success every year. We take this humble opportunity to appreciate and reward their efforts. Encouraged by our dealer's enthusiasm, we are planning to scale this event up next year, and offer the best for our invaluable dealers across the country."

Toyota net profit triples

Toyota said its full-year net profit more than tripled to $9.7 billion, with a weak yen and cost-cutting helping inflate the bottom line for the world's biggest automaker.

The Japanese giant also said it was on track for another soaring profit in the current fiscal year, underscoring the recovery among the nation's major automakers after the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster devastated sales and production, and highlighting strong demand in the key Asian and US markets.

Toyota's sales in the world's biggest vehicle market China -- which have been dented in the wake of a territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing -- were recovering, it added.

The yen, which has lost about one-fifth of its value on the dollar since November, has helped boost Japanese firms' competitiveness overseas and jacked up the value of their repatriated foreign income. Toyota cited the currency among the factors for its profit jump, after domestic rival Honda said its net profit for the year to March soared 73.6 percent thanks to robust overseas sales, a weaker yen, and cost cutting.

Toyota on Wednesday said it booked a net profit of 962.1 billion yen ($9.7 billion) in the fiscal year to March, up from 283.5 billion yen a year earlier, on sales of 22.0 trillion yen, an increase of 18.7 percent on-year.

The Camry and Corolla maker, which last year overtook General Motors to regain the title of world's biggest automaker, said it expected a net profit of 1.37 trillion yen for the fiscal year ending March 2014. “A weaker yen has definitely had a positive impact on earnings for Japanese automakers,” said Eiji Hakomori, auto analyst at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo. “But the focus is now on how they're planning to achieve their earnings targets this year”. Toyota President Akio Toyoda on Wednesday said future growth would be “driven by the recovery of the US market and the development of emerging markets”.

AFP