New auto service centre opened

A five-floor 15,300 square metre automobile service station - the Waldorf Auto Services Centre, has just been opened.

The centre, which has a work force of 54 fully trained technical and qualified administrative staff, incorporates a Hyundai Service Centre, two floors of storage for stocked cars, a retail outlet for Hyundai parts, a pre-delivery inspection area and a Waxoyl treatment area.

Francesca Mamo, managing director of Meridian Enterprises Co Ltd, said during the official opening of the centre that this showed the company's firm commitment to becoming one of the top five auto manufacturers in the world in unison with Hyundai Motor Company.

The premises are in line with the latest health and safety standards.

With Malta's accession into the European Union, the automotive industry needed to adopt a set of standards that regulated qualitatively all the servicing and sales outlets of a particular brand (in this case Hyundai) in all European countries, Ms Mamo said.

The premises are designed according to the highest Hyundai corporate identity standards. They cover not only the aesthetic aspect but also the operating procedures, tooling requirements, staffing and training levels and competence requirements.

Hyundai Motor Europe president Kwang Heum Um said that across Europe, Hyundai was becoming the rising automobile star. For the fist six months of this year, cumulative sales reached 175,700 units.

The European market share was improved from 1.8 per cent in 2003 to over two per cent. With the outlook of a reviving economic climate in Europe, forecasts for 2004 were adjusted from 330,000 to 350,000 unit sales - an increase of more than 20 per cent year over year. Mr Kwang said that Meridian Enterprises has achieved in Malta what colleagues in other markets still worked on - becoming the number one in their respective market.