Faith in the luxury car market has prompted Olympic Motor Pte Ltd to open a BMW showroom

in Phnom Penh.

The company has already sold 10 cars in as many months and anticipates selling 50

luxury vehicles in its first year.

The firm, a joint venture between local businessman Bun Hy and Singaporean Sim Ping

Sai will serve as the exclusive sales and service center for BMWs in Cambodia.

Sim and his partners have invested over $1 million in the development of the Olympic

Center, an office complex with the BMW showroom on the ground floor.

Hermann Kienzle, BMW's Singapore-based Asia sales manager, said at the opening ceremony

on Dec. 10 that he expected the Cambodian market to be a slow but "controlled".

"We won't sell BMWs here in tremendous numbers," said Kienzle. "But

sales should be reasonable."

Pointing to a potential parallel with Taiwan, Kienzle said 20 years ago when BMW

opened an office there, it sold just six cars in the first year. It now sells over

10,000 annually.

Olympic Motor has set up a complete service center to cater to customers' needs.

A technician from the home office in Germany will visit Phnom Penh every two months

to assist training mechanics.

BMW models in the showroom carried sticker prices which, given Cambodia's low import

duties, are probably the lowest in Southeast Asia.

A BMW 3 Series 320iA sells for $39,800, about one-third the price in Singapore or

Malaysia.

BMW Asia sales manager Hermann Kienzle presents Olympic Motor's Sim Ping Sai with

an inaugural plaque at the BMW showroom opening ceremony.