Chevron boosting station numbers by 200
Chevron Thailand Co, the country’s sixthlargest fuel retailer, has announced a revamp of its business for the first time in a decade, with an investment of US$200 million (6.24 billion baht) to add a further 200 petrol stations by 2021.
Chevron, which operates under the Caltex brand, expects a total of 575 stations nationwide by 2021.
Salman Saadat, Chevron’s country chairman and general manager, said the firm aims to add at least 50 stations a year.
Under a business plan titled “Smart Value for All”, Caltex expects double-digit growth during 2018-21.
“We plan to invest in a study to understand our consumers and translate their insights into compelling visions and strategies,” Mr Saadat said. “The vision is aimed at responding to changing social trends and the Thailand 4.0 initiative.”
Mr Saadat said the new flagship petrol stations under the $200-million budget are scheduled to start operations around the fourth quarter of this year.
Most of the new stations are under Caltex’s franchise model, by which local investors can own and operate under the Caltex brand.
Mr Saadat said Caltex’s non-oil business is also in focus. This segment includes convenience stores, food courts, coffee shops, eateries, car wash units, auto repair and ATMs.
He said he expects the non-oil business to make up 30-50% of revenue in the long run, with the remaining 50-70% for the retail fuel business. Retail makes up 80% of Caltex’s revenue.
Moreover, Caltex plans to promote cashless payments to increase payment options for customers.
The Caltex digital roadmap is designed to let fuel retail operators run smaller businesses.
Mr Saadat said the company will continue to provide training support with regard to product knowledge, service steps and safety practices for Caltex’s retailers to enable them to promote sales and deliver the best services.
Caltex is teaming up with True and Central to offer discounts and mileage cards to widen the number of clients.
Additional plans call for intro- ducing new fuel products under the Techron brand.
According to a Department of Energy Business (DOEB) report, PTT retained the largest market share with 38% of the country’s petrol stations in 2017, with Bangchak second at 14%.
Esso and Shell each tallied 12%, while the PT brand garnered 11%. Caltex finished sixth.
The DOEB reported that the market share of Caltex shrank significantly over the last two decades because of aggressive competition in the country’s fuel retail business, mainly controlled by local operators.
Caltex’s share fell from the third spot during 2000-10, when its market share was above 12%, to 7-8%.