Man of steel sets up Mah maison, to score a lifestyle Triumph

Singapore

BRITISH motorcycle brand Triumph has a new showroom and a new importer in Singapore, set up by a big name backed by a big group.

Didi Lifestyle Pte Ltd, a company set up a year ago, will officially take over the franchise on April 1, but it has opened the doors to the 120-year-old bike manufacturer's spiffy new home at 2, Leng Kee Road.

The dealership change has set tongues wagging in the industry because Triumph is making a clean break from Mah Pte Ltd, the largest motorcycle retailer here with 9 remaining brands in its stable, and going to another Mah. Didi Lifestyle's managing director is Eugene Mah, who left the family business after 15 years, having learnt the trade by working his way up from the greasy workshop floor to a director's chair.

Mah told The Business Times that striking out on his own was a difficult decision that carries with it the risk of disinheritance. "Christmas and Chinese New Year dinners are going to be really awkward," he said. So far his departure has been met with incredulity on the one hand, and encouragement on the other. "I've got guys who don't believe it and think it's a ploy for my previous company to expand. I've got guys who think my previous employer, my dad, is backing me on this," Mah said. "But there are more who tell me they think this is the right path. It's very encouraging."

The new dealership is a joint venture between Mah (the man) and Malaysia's Goh Brothers, a dealership group that operates Lexus, Toyota, Proton and Volkswagen outlets. It also sells Isuzu commercial vehicles and retails big names in the motorcycling world, such as Italy's Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta and Vespa, and America's Harley-Davidson.

Goh Brothers Group chairman, Goh Kian Sin, met Mah around 5 years ago at a dealer conference in Italy. They kept in contact and decided to work together after meeting for lunch in Nov 2019.

Goh is also a founder of Oriental Castle Group, which is the sole distributor in Asia for ArcelorMittal, the second largest steel producer in the world. "It's a boring business," he told BT. "It's very factual, and no mistakes are forgiven."

An avid motorcycle rider, he got into the bike business partially out of enthusiasm, but also to go upstream and develop what he sees as Goh Brothers Group's key strength: the aftersales business, meaning servicing, spare parts and repairs.

"In the dealership business, sales margins are very thin. Aftersales is the key, but it requires a lot of capex," he said. "We are happy about that because we invested much earlier, when property prices were more reasonable."

Among bikers, Goh Brothers Group might be best known for Gasket Alley, a motorcycle lifestyle venue in Selangor state capital Petaling Jaya. It combines bike retail and aftersales with a food and beverage haven, and has become a venue for riders, vintage car enthusiasts and cafe-hunting Instagrammers alike to converge.

Goh said he wants to replicate the concept in Ipoh, Penang, Johor Bahru and Singapore, where he and his family now live. That dovetailed nicely with Mah's own ideas about motorcycle retail. The two men are sympatico about bike showrooms becoming destinations in themselves, where the motorcycles themselves are almost secondary.

"We are trying to move away from riders buying a bike because they like it. We want them to buy it because they want to get into the whole riding lifestyle. I think that's lacking in Singapore, in that there's no such lifestyle-themed space here," Mah said.

"To operate a bike business, you cannot be too square and you cannot be too lifestyle. You need to have both, and I strongly believe Eugene is the right guy," Goh added. "We hope to change the motorcycle scene in Singapore."

The two are working on plans for a 40,000 square foot venue that will double as an event space. The floorplan includes a training academy for motorcycle aftersales and some showroom space, but Didi Lifestyle is ultimately hoping to draw families, cycling enthusiasts, foodies and, yes, the odd motorcycle rider to the place to simply hang out.

In the meantime, Triumph has gotten its express wish to have a showroom in the Leng Kee motor belt so the brand would be down the road from rivals such as BMW, Ducati and Harley-Davidson. But Didi Lifestyle's founders see bike retail changing. They said that Triumph is intrigued by the plans for a lifestyle venue, but understand that developing it could take years.

"It used to be that we had to be where the customers are, but now the plan is to create a location where the customers come to you instead," Mah said.

Opening the new home for Triumph might seem like the finish line for the brand's dealership switch, but Didi Lifestyle's ambitions mean it is merely the starting line.