• 
• 

Published on February 13, 2008

The name Teddy Bear originates from a hunting trip made by US president Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt to Mississippi in the early years of the 20th century.

A group of the president's "attendants", who were hunting with hounds, cornered and clubbed an American black bear after a long and exhausting chase and tied it to a tree, suggesting, when Roosevelt arrived at the scene, that he shoot it. Roosevelt refused, because he believed that would be unsportsmanlike. It became the topic of a political cartoon, and a Brooklyn store-owner, seeing the drawing of Roosevelt and the bear, created a little stuffed bear cub and put it in his shop window with a sign that read "Teddy's bear". The rest is history.

Ever since, the teddy bear has been a symbol of warmth and reassurance, and children around the world have depended on the toy for comfort and companionship. And this is why Chukiat Srithongsathian named his grey-market auto-importing company Teddy Import.

"The important thing was to be different from the rest," he says. "The name Teddy makes you think of family, warmth and cosiness. I wanted customers to associate my auto-import showroom with this thought. A large proportion of our customers are family people, and most of the vehicles we sell are MPVs and SUVs."

And to reinforce the concept, the company gives away a huge teddy bear with each vehicle it sells.

Teddy Import divides its products into two groups: family-oriented ones are in the Teddy Eco group, while sports cars come under the Teddy Power group. Although it could be argued teddy bears are not symbolic of power, Chukiat says he wants to hold onto the concept, because many people who enjoy sports cars have families and, besides, the name "Teddy Power" is a catchy one.

Chukiat says Teddy Import is the only company that imports the Toyota Estima hybrid with a factory-fitted surround-sound system already installed. Other importers modify the vehicles once they arrive, he says.

"I believe customers turn to us because of the service we provide. I tell all of my staff to think of themselves as being the customer. They treat customers how they would like to be treated themselves: with respect and dedication to the job," Chukiat says.

At present, Teddy Import has two showrooms: one each on Ram-Indra and Vibhavadi-Rangsit Roads. There are plans to open a third, and Chukiat wants the new one to be a meeting place for car lovers to discuss cars, or even be the starting point for car rallies.

"The main reason I decided to start up an auto-import company was because of my passion for cars as a youngster. I personally enjoy driving and have owned many cars. Currently, I drive a Porsche Cayman," he says.

Teddy Import was established early last year and has been in operation for nine months. It sold 180 vehicles last year. Chukiat expects the total grey market in Thailand this year to demand about 10,000 vehicles. The country's leading grey-market auto importer is the SEC Group. Eton Import enjoys second place.

Chukiat says he is very happy with Teddy Import's performance. Another of his passions is golf, so many of his customers are fellow golfers. Chukiat believes word of mouth is the best form of marketing for attracting customers, and this makes it very important for him to keep current customers happy.

All of Teddy Import's customers receive roadside assistance and automatically become members of the Car World Club, which will tow a disabled vehicle to a service centre anywhere in Thailand. Teddy also provides customers with a temporary vehicle when theirs is being serviced.

Teddy Import was launched last year amid an unstable political and economic situation, but Chukiat says that did not worry him.

"Grey-market customers are mostly people who are not easily affected by slight economic distress. Many of them have the money and will spend it if they think it necessary. The sales figures are proof that many customers

do not hold back."

This year, the company plans many marketing activities to create public awareness of the Teddy Import brand, with the company's vehicles displayed at department stores.

"My dream for Teddy Import is to have it become the second-biggest grey-market importer in Thailand within the next five years. I see all other importers not as competitors, but as friends from whom I have much to learn. I want Teddy Import to be a well-established and recognised importer in Thailand," Chukiat says.

Vijo Varghese

The Nation