• Home
• /
• Business Technology Review

Wheels and deals reign supreme

Fahd Saleh Hussein Al Hemyari, Managing Director at Royal Swiss Auto Services, talks about how the new auto services provider is set to shake up the UAE's luxury and premium car scene with the opening of a state-of-the-art facility in Dubai.

What drove you to open your first workshop in 2020?

Having worked within the automotive industry for a long time, we noticed a gap in the market for a company facility that could deliver a first-class service and additional benefits above and beyond what customers could find at the main dealers. We spent many months analysing the market to ensure that our base offering would be strong from the start.

We wanted to create and maintain quality standards that exceed those offered by main dealers, while also offering added value to customers. Each and every customer vehicle that passes through our facility receives this highest possible level of attention from our service advisors and technicians, all of whom possess unbeatable experience gained from working in factory and main dealer workshops. For us, the quality of customer service and technical knowledge is absolutely key for our success.

To date, we have welcomed a wide variety of vehicles from some of the world's top brands, ranging from Mercedes to Range Rover, Ferrari to Rolls Royce, and exotic supercars like McLaren and Bugatti. These cars have undergone anything from basic maintenance to full engine and gearbox rebuilds. We are very much looking forward to increasing our market share and servicing more of the UAE market.

What are the growth opportunities for Royal Swiss Auto Services in the region?

We have big plans for Royal Swiss Auto Services, which we are looking forward to communicating at the appropriate time. What I can tell you, is that we are currently completing another workshop dedicated to specific brands that will expand our market share in UAE. At present, we service 22 vehicle brands and we will soon to be adding in excess of ten additional brands. In addition, we are working on plans to expand further across the region. Throughout 2021 we have plans that will give us access to a variety of other markets, so we are very excited about the opportunities that exist in the marketplace.

Can you tell us about your recent Dh14 million investment?

We have a state-of-the-art facility, equipped with the very best tools, vehicle computers and equipment, and staffed by the best technicians in the region. We are also one of the very few workshops that has a dedicated parts department that stocks a range of parts, so customers don't have to wait too long for their vehicle to be returned to them. We will continue to develop new products to offer customers in-house, which will allow us to manage affordability and accessibility of services to the public. We have been very careful to manage our investment to ensure the longevity of the Swiss Auto brand within the region. Our financial plan is focused on progressive month-on-month growth through clever marketing, training of our staff and assuring quality throughout the company to secure our presence in the market.

What have you been able to do during the lockdown to prepare for this opening?

The lockdown allowed us to focus and gave us more time to develop the idea of Royal Swiss Auto Services in order to make it a reality. We were able to conduct extensive market research in the UAE and more widely across the region to carefully develop our strategy and market entry plans without many distractions.

We were fortunate enough to be able to monitor every step of building the business to maintain the quality of equipment installation, to find the right people to work here and to constantly evolve our customer service standards to ensure that from the day we opened, we experienced little to no issues.

I believe the challenges offered by 2020 have been educational for all of us, and we have been able to identify particular consumer habits and trends that we have been able to use to focus our own service offerings. We are open from 7am to 10pm, making it easier for customers to drop off or collect their vehicle from us, stress free. This compares to many other workshops, which open at 9am and close at 6 or 7pm. I disliked being restricted by the time I had to deliver or collect my car when working, so it was important to me that we looked to make life easier for our own customers. We have seen during 2020 that time is our most precious commodity, and is key to our happiness - ultimately, our customers' satisfaction is our priority.

• Business and Technology Review