Daniel Tan Soo Liang, 54, is the new Sales Director of Scania Southeast Asia, replacing IdrosPuteh who is now the Strategic Customer Development Director.
Daniel Tan Appointed as Scania’s New Sales Director for Southeast Asia
Having majored in Southeast Asia from University of Malaya, Daniel has 30 years of working experience in various B2C and B2B businesses, 14 of those in the automotive industry. From Cycle & Carriage (Mazda and Mercedes Benz), Volkswagen Group Malaysia, Volkswagen Group China (Asean Project) to most recently in Proton Holdings and Quill Group (BMW and Rolls Royce). He has held various positions from General Manager – Sales and Retail Operations to Director of Sales.
An avid marathoner and now into trail racing, Daniel took on all kinds of challenges his whole life. “I took the challenge because I am attracted by the Scania brand and the business culture that focuses more on doing things right and doing the right things for society, customers and staff. I opted to join Scania because I want to learn and be part of the future mass mobility without burning fossil fuel that leads to less pollution and is sustainable, and frees up real estate as people do not really need personal transport once Autonomous Vehicles (AV) and Electric Vehicles come on stream. The same goes for goods movement! Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Autonomous Vehicles (AV) are also coming on stream, and I hope to be part of this transport revolution,” Daniel said.
With the new appointment, Daniel is responsible for the management of bus, coach, truck, engines and service sales activity within the Business Unit.
As Sales Director, Daniel acts as a key leader and head coach for the sales departments. “My immediate objectives will be helping customers achieve their best profitability and strengthening Scania as a leader in sustainable transport solutions.”
For Daniel, sustainability means causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore be able to continue for a long time. In extension, reliable transport is key to improving the quality of life for all.
His personal view is that all the big cities in Southeast Asia are in danger of serious pollution (part of it was contributed by motor vehicles) and must seize the opportunities to move into sustainable mobility. For example, he pointed out that he lived in Beijing for almost 2 years and the pollution index came to as high as 500 in 2013! The same was for many big cities in China. Today, the Chinese authorities are very serious in reducing pollution.
“Seriously, besides having a career, it is our job to keep our country and region as ‘clean’ as possible for our children and their children! This is what Scania likes to achieve. With customer profitability as the starting point, Scania is committed to supporting our customers to improve through sustainable transport solutions by giving the best fuel economy, the best safety and the best uptime,” he added.
