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SPEEDMATE?

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I know this company very well in Korea and how they operate. In China, I don't have any resource to recognize their activities.

If anyone visit their shop and wish to comment (good/bad/etc), please post here.

Following SK news are some what old....post in 2008. No more telecom biz after selling their share earn .5 billion from early investment.

Any comments here may reflect future of this company advance adding my personal submission to the company once I visit and review their stores in China next year.

SK Networks; Speedmate brand is running more than 40 stores in Shanghai region after advancing into the Chinese market in September, 2005. As a representative brand of Korean car services, Speedmate is expected to accelerate its business by concluding a strategic alliance with SINOPEC, the largest oil refining company in China which possesses more than 30,000 gas stations throughout China.



SK Networks said on August 25th that it will reinforce the comprehensive cooperation on general car services by concluding a strategic alliance with SINOPEC through Speedmate’s incorporation in China.



With the agreement, SK Networks will extend the Speedmate stores in gas stations being operated by SINOPEC in Tianjin city (population: 11 million), the largest commercial city in northern China following Shanghai where the company has already made successful advances. SK Networks will also propel joint marketing using the company’s advanced marketing techniques such as DBM and CRM.



Originally SK Networks considered beginning the cooperative business with SINOPEC in Beijing, the capital of China, but as the Chinese government temporarily restricted construction works in Beijing prior to the Olympic Games, SK postponed the launching of business in Beijing for the present and advanced into Tianjin first which is one of 3 metropolitan cities under the direct control of the central government.



A spokesperson for SK Networks said, “We will advance into Beijing after the Beijing Olympics, and will expand our business throughout China after establishing strong bases in Southern China including Guang Zhou and Shen Zhen.



The alliance with SINOPEC at this time has proved that SK Networks’ capability for car service is the world’s best in that the company was selected as a business partner of the largest oil refining company in China beating out the leading global major companies that had advanced into China a long time ago.



As a matter of fact, recently Speedmate has come into the spotlight by receiving the ‘Best Marketing Organization Award’ in the International Business Awards (IBA) known as the Oscar in business arena with the online-offline-mobile linked total car life service that is the first of its kind in Korea and the world.



It is notable that the partnership with SINOPEC is not merely limited to the simple physical expansion of Speedmate stores but extended to DBM and CRM that are the core software for management. This signifies that DBM/CRM is considering SK Networks as a long-term strategic partner rather than simply a momentary partner.



Concerning the partnership, a spokesperson for SK Networks said that although he cannot make specific remarks about it, the areas of cooperation could be extended to the oil business and also the business operation of gas stations in the future and that this signified that the partnership with SINOPEC will be further solidified.



Tae-Jin Kim, President of SK Networks Energy Marketing Company, said, “Through the alliance with SINOPEC, we have established a very important basis for Speedmate to leap forward into being a major car service company in China.” and emphasized that “This was made possible because we have secured world top class capabilities for car service with flat-out efforts amidst fierce competition in the Korean market and on such a basis advanced into the Chinese market with ‘aspiration and a challenging spirit’.”



The industries are paying close attention to the secrets of SK Networks’ unhesitating and successful advancement into China on the basis of ‘invisible service’ proved by the recent opening of the 100th cellular phone distribution store in China and the conclusion of a strategic alliance with the largest oil refining company in China for car service business.



Experts in the industries remarked that “SK Networks ‘has the development experience and know-how of the Korean industries’ in its portfolio of so-called ‘food, clothing, housing, car and telecommunications’, and forecasted that “Being equipped with the massive capabilities that are required by China in the process of a rapid economic development, SK Networks is becoming recognized as a very attractive partner for the Chinese government and Chinese companies.”



Let’s see if the ambitious plan of SK Networks will bear fruit and propel us towards being the best company in China in the service industry that is our new growth engine while China is in hot pursuit in the manufacturing industry.