THE Malaysian firm set to be Nissan’s sole distributor in Cambodia is willing to work with Phnom Penh’s original and sole dealer, Narita Motorcare Cambodia, a spokeswoman for the company said Thursday.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd last week announced it would give Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad (TCMH) sole and exclusive rights to distribute Nissan, but the company “will work with Narita Motorcare and other parties to meet our business objectives”, the spokeswoman, Alice Wong, wrote in an email.

The expansion of Tan Chong’s alliance with Nissan in the Cambodian market “provides strategic benefit to spread our Nissan business outside of Malaysia to tap into [an] emerging market”, Wong added.

Tan Chong has been the franchise holder for Nissan vehicles in Malaysia and Singapore since 1957. The company will replace as distributor the Danish Kjaer Group, which typically provided vehicles to the aid and development sectors and withdrew from Cambodia in 2009.

News of the deal pushed Tan Chong’s share price to a two-month high on the Malaysian stock exchange March 12, when it traded at US$1.031 per share, but by Thursday its price had fallen back to US$0.998.

The company, which established a local subsidiary, Tan Chong Motor (Cambodia) Pty Ltd, in May 2009 announced via the Web site of Bursa Malaysia last Thursday it would put US$5 million into Cambodian operations in the first five years, including setting up showrooms, with an initial sales target of 200 units per year.

Long Narith, managing director of Narita, told the Post this week that Tan Chong had agreed to allow him to be the sole Nissan dealer, but he was unsure how the $5 million investment would affect his operations.

“We’ll wait and see because so far, everything is normal,” he said. “We’re still the only dealer in Cambodia.”