Driving business growth in new ways.
The future of how consumers own and use cars is clearly undergoing disruption; businesses and manufacturers are responding. Jardines International Motors, as a distributor and dealer of marques such as Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari, and Porsche, risks being disintermediated by the brands, as they launch new ownership models and take greater ownership of customers across a wider journey. This risk and opportunity is exacerbated given a focus on the rapid growth of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI, $1m USD+ liquid assets) in markets such as China, where there are 1.32 million HNWI, with 1 million HNWI in the southern Greater Bay Area (GBA) alone, which includes Hong Kong. The GBA represents 1% of China’s land, 5% of its population, but 13% of its GDP, growing faster than anywhere else at 15% Year on Year.
To grow, Jardines needed to reach and engage with these HNWI across Asia in a new and relevant way to meet their unmet needs across the entire customer journey. We identified white-space business models and customer offerings that would enable Jardines to leapfrog the competition, capturing HNWI, creating stickiness and growth opportunity across its entire HNW of brands. This white space also extended to Hospitality and Retail – generating incremental (direct) revenues of $31.3 million by year three, and further impacting existing businesses, by creating cross sell opportunities and increasing conversion.
Jardines International Motors business is the second largest Mercedes dealer globally, alongside a number of other well-known marques, serving over 3 million customers.
To break through in this market, we needed to originate a uniquely ownable business model, harnessing Jardines current brand position, its operational scale, as well as its ties and commitment in Asia. Direct research with customers identified the need for a business which can provide global experiences and services, centered around classic car culture and the associated lifestyle. The classic car market is incredibly fragmented globally, and of varying maturity across markets, particularly in Asia – so this need is largely unserved.
Our research also indicated that luxury-based memberships and clubs, and specifically high-end driving/automotive clubs are growing globally, many of which are now expanding beyond the typical storage and access to circuit days, offering luxurious lifestyle experiences, including property, appealing to the passions of prospective members.
To meet this unmet need, we created the House of ClassicsTM, a global membership club for high-net-worth owners of prestigious and classic automobiles, offering unique automotive and luxury experiences for its members. This model will self-sustain, generate additional revenue opportunities (e.g. partnerships), and create impact for other brands within the Jardines portfolio (such as hospitality) – enabling Jardines to become an ecosystem player.
The membership serves two types of customers: Classic Car Owners and Non-Owners and provides storage, servicing and maintenance, vehicle concierge services, specialist insurance, Club House facilities, driving experiences, and a carefully curated calendar of member exclusive “experiences,” including high-end international driving tours, VIP access to sporting and cultural events, and dedicated access to all partner events. The digital platform also served up curated content from a number of partners, including watches, wine, retail, travel, etc. We developed a central measurement platform that enables us to optimize the experience, benchmark success and identify best practices.
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