Cover Story:

How Castrol Professionals

Work in Russia

E d i t i o n f o r C a s t r o l ’ s p a r t n e r s i n t h e C I S / S P R I N G 2 0 14

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CASTROL PROFESSIONAL:SEAT and Ford Present the Best Mechanics and Diagnosticians

S&M:The RTM Concept in Action

PROJECT:Magnatec "Refresh"

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01 CastrolNews

Castrol News / Spring 2014

COvER STORy02 Meet: the ProfessionalsHow Castrol's Technical Support Department works in Russia

CASTROL PROFESSIONAL06 A Century of PartnershipFord and Castrol celebrate their 100th anniversary of partnership

08 Round Table: Audi and CastrolNews about Castrol's partners and customers

09 Exclusive for volvoCastrol markets a new motor oil

PEOPLE10 Premium Commercial ClassInterview with Mikhail Semenikhin, Head of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

HD NEWS12 The Goal is EfficiencyA presentation of the new Vecton product line for distributors of lubricants for commercial vehicles.

13 Special RecommendationsSetra Lubricants LLC and MAN Truck & Bus RUS LLC continue their successful partnership on the Russian market.

CONTENTS

CIS14 Oil for the ManufacturerNews about our partners in the CIS

SALES AND MARkETING16 Good ShowTraveling conference of Castrol distributors in Istanbul

17 Steps to SuccessCastrol implements the RTM concept

18 Streak of LuckCastrol launches a promotion in Russia for motor oil sales staff and purchasing managers

19 A Trusted ChoiceHow to choose genuine oil for your car

CAMPAIGN20 Eastward!Castrol's new ad campaigns in 2014

PRESS REvIEW22 Official OpinionWhat Russian media are saying and writing about Castrol

USEFUL ADvICE24 Myths and RealityCastrol Professionals dispel 5 myths about motor oils

Castrol News («Кастрол Новости»)Spring 2014

Founder:SETRA LUBRICANTS LLC2 Paveletskaya Square, Bldg. 1, Moscow, Russian Federation, Tel. (495) 961 27 87

Publisher:SETRA LUBRICANTS LLCjointly with ALF Media LLC

Editorial office:2 Paveletskaya Square, Bldg. 1, Moscow, Russian Federation, Tel. (495) 961 27 87

Contributors:Anastasia Dvoretskikh(Project Manager)Elena BuidaVladimir GavrikovElena GorbenkoYulia GorbunovaAlexander Danilchuk (Executive Editor) Yulia ZnamenskayaAndrei KovtunIgor KorbitMikhail KapralovArkady MarkovNatalia PopovaEkaterina RozanovaIgor UsheninAlexander FedorovVyacheslav KholopovOlga TsybaSergei Sherstennikov

Cover photos: Fotobank / Getty Images

Publication registeredin the Federal Service for Oversight of Communications and Mass MediaRegistration certificatePI No. FS77-34913of December 29, 2008

Printed atAST-Moscow Printing HouseCirculation 2900 copies

May be reprintedonly with the written consent of the editorial office (publisher)

02 CastrolNews

COVER STORY

Meet: the ProfessionalsWHEN yOU'RE USING LUBRICANTS FROM THE WORLD'S LEADING MANUFACTURER FOR ALL kINDS OF EqUIPMENT, THERE'S NO ROOM FOR UNCERTAINTy OR DOUBT. THERE'S ONLy ONE ANSWER TO ANy CUSTOMER qUESTION — THE RIGHT ONE. IF THERE ARE ANy DOUBTS, SPECIALISTS OF THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT DEPARTMENT AT SETRA LUBRICANTS LLC WILL LIkELy HELP PUT yOUR MIND AT EASE. WHO ARE THEy AND WHAT DO THEy DO? THE COvER STORy OF THE LATEST ISSUE OF CASTROL NEWS IN FRONT OF yOU IS ALL ABOUT THIS

Sampling oil for laboratory analysis

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AN yOU use oil designed for cars in the engine of a BMW R1150RT motorcycle? How can you tell from the label whether hydraulic oil is synthetic or mineral? How do you choose a

high-quality anti-corrosion coating for locomotive wheel sets? How do you find out the base number for Castrol EDGE oils? What size container is more convenient for pouring oil into the dipstick neck? And so on.

These are by no means the most unusual questions the specialists of the technical support department at Setra Lubricants LLC — the exclusive importer of Castrol lubricants in Russia and the CIS — get asked all time. Each question is usually urgent and demands immediate intervention by specialists. The search for answers, phrasing them properly, explaining, analyzing and testing oils, training, and — don't be surprised — psychological support — is all part of

technical support for customers and is one aspect our department. You might say, our work is not so much about lubricant, but about people, that is, our customers, who pick up cans of Castrol products.

It's not hard to imagine the scale of these activities. Here are some figures as examples: last year, we held 127 technical seminars. Including seminars for employees of distributors and service centers, and in OEM training centers for our own employees. Altogether, our employees provided training for 1,500 people. For our global partners like Audi, BMW and Volkswagen, our lectures have become part of their regular in-house technical training courses for engine mechanics and service advisors. Our Russian experience or working with global OEM partners is unique for Castrol. Our engineers travel from Minsk and St. Petersburg all the way to Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and from Arkhangelsk to Ankara, Tashkent, Baku, Tbilisi and Dushanbe. There's a reason

why we've mentioned these southern capitals: at the urgent request of our Turkish colleagues, we're helping them in countries where they manage Castrol's business.

Coordinating our specialists' travels is no easy task. But our employee Raisa Dadaeva handles it admirably. She manages the comprehensive dealership base originally created in the depths of the technical department. Finally, she is a welcome addition to our team of mainly hard-core engineers.

IvAN vASILyEvICH CHANGES OILWhat surprising things can you learn from our lectures, for which the engineers of Setra Lubricants spend up to 60 % of their working time traveling? The answer is simple: exactly what people, whose families' well-being directly depends on the amount of Castrol oil they sell,

CAlexander Klepikov

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COVER STORY

absolutely need to know about lubricants. The physical and chemical properties of oils, types and kinds of specifications and tolerances, types and kinds of oils, lubricants and special products, and how to use them all correctly.

Whereas three or four years ago, technical support for customers mainly boiled down to responding to requests and giving lectures, today our partners' range of interests has become much broader. As business on the market for commercial vehicles and construction equipment revives, there is a regular need to perform actual tests of our products on customers' equipment, because customers want to specify and set oil change intervals. More importantly, this practice may become one of the items in Castrol's business partnership proposal.

Anticipating this development, we held a preliminary competition and hired top-ranking professionals with solid experience. For example, Alexander Klepikov was schooled at Caterpillar, and Vladimir Egorov once worked for Cummins. As a result, we successfully implemented a motor oil test program at the Omsk Bus Plant, on road train No. 1417 in Kolomna, at a transportation company in Chelyabinsk and in other regions.

It's important to realize that performing these tests involves more than just sending out instruction letters. You also have to

personally train people on site, make sure they following instructions exactly, arrange for sending oil and fuel samples to laboratories (the laboratories themselves first need to be certified)...

And have any of our readers tried to speak strictly with the chief engineer of a company, who has several hundred seasoned drivers and mechanics reporting to him (each one has his own view of being "overrun by know-it-all visitors" and the possibility of switching to another, previously unknown oil)? We, or more precisely our experts, have not only managed to get them to listen to our opinion, but also to listen to it with deference.

TO kNOW AND UNDERSTANDNow let's talk about products for cars. Sergei Gordeev and Vadim Kamensky are responsible for supporting our partners in this area. Both specialists have exceptional engineering qualifications and a wealth of practical experience in working at dealerships. Sergei is a graduate of Bauman Moscow State Technical  University, and has even managed to work in the space industry during his career (Khrunichev Space Center). Sergei worked at a BMW

dealership before moving to Setra Lubricants.

Vadim Kamensky learned his trade at a Škoda service station. But not just that: his achievements include designing and assembling his own car using Subaru components. Some of you may have seen this show car at the Les Art Hotel.

You might ask: why do automotive engineers provide technical support for customers? The answer is obvious: if we want to win customers' trust, we have to know their problems as well as they do. Then we can speak to our customers in their language.

Where do our engineers get their knowledge about a specialized sector like lubricants and everything that concerns us? Training. Training a novice usually takes from a year to a year and a half. After that, he's already capable of working independently. After three to four years of hard work, you generally have a trained professional not only able to respond to requests and give lectures, but also to come up with their own concept of the optimum product line for the Russian market.

In the PCO segment, this concept is based on the results of an experiment orga nized and carried out by Sergei Gordeev: in two years, more than 30 company cars from our fleet have piled up tens of thousands of kilometers on

Arkady Markov, Vyacheslav Kholopov, Eduard Nikolaev (pilot), Alexander Klepikov Vladimir Egorov

05CastrolNews

FROM CONCEPT TO IMPLEMENTATION Our division's work isn't limited to the "outside". Another of our key tasks is continuous contact with the marketing department. This includes writing and editing articles for automotive publications and providing consulting assistance within the On-line Consultant programs and preparing recommendations in addition to standard application indexes (brochures for MAN, Volvo, Scania and Mercedes), and involvement in launching new products, conferences, round tables and events dedicated to OEM partners. The Info Team project should also be noted (we talked about it in the last issue of Castrol News. — Ed. note): it has a powerful and effective influence on the attitude of employees of independent service centers to Castrol oil. Our employees train all speakers for the Info Team project.

Here are some other important tasks: customs clearance of products (the chemical composition of the products is important here), investigating the causes of process breakdowns on the factory floor, and handling complaints about product quality. All of these issues and problems can only be solved in close cooperation with the technical, Supply Chain and SOD departments.

oils that have been subject to laboratory analysis for this unparalleled operating time.

But the technical support department wouldn't be complete without a chemist on staff. And of course we have one: he's Alexander Ivanov, a graduate of Gubkin State Academy of Oil and Gas. His wealth of professional experience is unique; and his ability to answer almost any technical question is combined with knowledge of the finer points of promoting products on the market. For example, few people know that state registration is just as important as delivering goods to warehouses. Without a state registration certificate for goods for which state registration is mandatory, it's impossible to obtain an certificate (declaration) of conformity, and thus legally distribute the products in the Russian Federation. Alexander gives seminars on all topics, deals with counterfeit products, and creates databases for publishing all kinds of catalogs, both printed and on-line (there are more than 100,000 visits per month to links with on-line recommendations). Finally, he was the first of us to figure out the OMS system. We also shouldn't forget to mention the product specifications and data sheets he created. These things are like air: when they're there, you don't notice them; but if you don't get them on time, business can come to a halt.

The RTM project is especially worth mentioning. The product specification matrix used as the basis for implementing it was developed by professionals of our division. It's a pleasure to see and idea created with your direct involvement become a reality.

In the last four years, there have been major changes in the scope of work and depth of understanding of business issues in our division. Along with a group of consultant lecturers, our department has a close-knit mobile team of experts in every field associated with the use of automotive lubricants. It works closely with analytical laboratories in Moscow (International Test Center for Fuels and Lubricants, Gubkin State Academy of Oil and Gas) and BP's leading European research centers in Pangbourne, UK and Bochum, Germany. Success? Ask our customers: they know the answer to that question better than anyone else.

But we're not stopping there, and we're continuing our efforts. You can check this for yourself right now: nearly everything in this edition of Castrol News was prepared with the involvement of professionals in our division.

Arkady Markov,Manager of the Technical Department at Setra Lubricants LLC

Arkady Markov Sergei Gordeev

06 CastrolNews

Castrol Professional

ODAy, the multifaceted partnership between the two leading brands in their industries means more than joint development of lubricants and fuel, and training and collaboration under Castrol

Professional programs. The companies also hold combined events aimed at motivating service station employees, acceptance managers, and spare parts department sales staff.

Castrol and Ford held two events at once based on last year's results. The

Mechanic", except that the participants' challenge was not to search for and find failure, but be able to competently inspect a customer's vehicle, and clearly state the service job. And the most important thing, besides determining the required list of work, was to offer the visitor the maximum range of additional services.

The winners show a high level of professionalism in interaction with potential customers, winning over the jury and fans. Both events were held with the support and awards of Castrol: the grand prize for both events was a trip to the FIA World Championship Rally (WRC) in France. In the meantime, anyone not participating in the contests could attend lectures on the topic of "Features of Using Castrol Oil in Ford Car Engines" given by Castrol professionals.

However, the companies' partnership doesn't end here. In fact, in the near future there will be joint branding at official Ford service centers in honor of the 100th anniversary. All customers can look forward to challenging contests, souvenirs and great gifts.

BEST MECHANICThe final of the contest took place on December 12, 2013 at the Ford Training Center in Moscow. Eight employees from five Ford dealerships made it to the final after successfully passing the theoretical and practical stages:

1. Leonid Bagrov (Ford Center, Nizhny Novgorod);

2. Denis Galantsev (Rolf Oktyabrskaya, St. Petersburg);

first was called "Best Mechanic". The best mechanics of official Ford service centers competed in it. They had a challenging task: they had to identify a technical failure previously created in a car by the contest committee. Jumping ahead a bit, we note that: the winners not only showed outstanding knowledge of the technical features of Ford cars, but also resourcefulness, inventiveness and high resistance to stress.

The second event consisted of the "Best Service Consultant" contests. They were similar in many respects to "Best

FORD

A Century of Partnership

THIS yEAR, CASTROL AND FORD WILL CELEBRATE THE 100TH ANNIvERSARy OF THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO COMPANIES. IN HONOR OF THIS OCCASION, THE COMPANIES WILL HOLD LARGE NUMBER OF JOINT PROMOTIONS AND EvENTS TO ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS, ENSURE THE LOyALTy AND SATISFACTION OF FORD OWNERS AND MOTIvATE THEIR OWN EMPLOyEES

T

07CastrolNews

3. Leonid Getmansky (Rolf Vitebsky, St. Petersburg);

4. Alexander Golovin (Major-Auto, Moscow);

5. Sergei Zarubin (Alarm-Motors Kolomyazhsky, St. Petersburg);

6. Dmitry Kalin (Rolf Vitebsky, St. Petersburg).

7. Sergei Kulikov (Major-Auto, Moscow);

8. Alexander Russu (Ford Center, Nizhny Novgorod).

Participants in the final had to pass several practical knowledge tests of various levels of difficulty for each of a car's main systems: chassis, power train, electrical and body. The finalists' skills in car diagnostics and repair were assessed by a competent jury. Leonid Bagrov (1st place), Sergei Zarubin (2nd place) and Alexander Russu (3rd place) showed the best results.

All participants in the final were awarded the highest Master skill level under the Masters global program for upgrading employees' technical competence and promotional gifts. The grand prizes for the three winners were motivational trips offered by Castrol, the partner in the contests.

During the event, awards were also given to local trainers showing the best results in the Masters program in 2013. The winners were trainers who trained the largest number of specialists in 2013 for the following qualifications: Specialist — Roman Abrosimov (Amethyst, Volgograd), Senior — Sergei Firsov (Ford Center, Veliky Novgorod), Master — Dmitry Fedotov

(Agat Plus, Astrakhan). Holding the "Best Ford Mechanic"

contest is one of the next steps taken by Ford Sollers toward becoming the best in the vehicle maintenance sector. Supporting training and providing technical personnel has always been one of the company's priorities. After training in the Masters program, employees of Ford dealerships are able to offer their customers service at the level of global standards.

The Masters program, which has been offered on the Russian market since 2003, is part of a global project aimed at upgrading the technical skills of employees of dealership service centers. It is a systematic training program that includes standard means of proficiency testing and certification procedures for an individual assessment of knowledge and skills. The program is designed for all mechanics involved in maintenance and repairs of all vehicles sold by authorized Ford dealerships.

The Ford Training Center held 127 trainings for 2,573 Ford dealership employees in 2013. At the end of the year, 107 employees had been awarded the Master qualification.

BEST SERvICE CONSULTANTFord Sollers has announced the result of the "Best Service Consultant 2013" contest among employees of Ford dealerships throughout Russia.

The final of the contest took place on January 24, 2014 at the Ford Training Center in Moscow. Eight Ford service consultants made it to the final state of the competition after winning the largest number of points in the semi-final:

1. Roman Koryakov (ААА Motors, Rostov-on-Don);

2. Alexei Gostevskikh (Nezavisimost, Ekaterinburg);

3. Gennady Sheverdyakov (Genser Yasenevo, Moscow);

4. Nikolai Usov (Autostar, Tyumen);

5. Alexei Lyakhnitsky (Union, Rostov-on-Don);

6. Alexander Larchenkov (Planeta-Auto, Chelyabinsk);

7. Andrei Rogachev (Rolf Center, Moscow);

8. Alexander Filin (Rolf Vitebsky, St. Petersburg).

Each participant in the final had 20 minutes to show customer relation skills during an interactive reception, knowledge and use of Ford Sollers marketing programs in their work, and basic knowledge of the warranty policy and technical information sources. The finalists' skills were assessed by a competent jury. Gennady Sheverdyakov (1st place), Alexander Larchenkov (2nd place) and Alexander Filin (3rd place) showed the best results.

The grand prizes for the three winners were motivational trips to the WRC in France offered by Castrol, the partner in the contests. Service department managers at Ford dealerships whose employees won top places were also awarded valuable prizes

The "Best Service Consultant" contest has been held in Russia since 2007. Its goal is to upgrade the skills of service consultants and the overall satisfaction level of end customers of the services.

Ford Sollers takes a comprehensive approach to training service consultants, which has been in place on the Russian market since 2003. A special training system has been developed and includes both technical and general courses that are regularly revised and adapted according to market conditions and the expanding Ford model line.

More than 1,400 service consultants from Ford dealerships took the training between 2003 and 2013. After completing the training program, the specialists are able to provide their customers with the highest level of service according to the brand's global standards.

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Castrol Professional

AUDI

Round Table: Audi and Castrol

The partnership between Audi and Castrol is reinforced at both the global and national levels. A round table took place in Yakhroma last year, at which representatives of Audi Russia and Castrol Russia discussed their plans and joint ventures with official Audi dealers.

Event participants included representatives of Audi Russia's after-sales service department, Castrol's technical and sales and marketing departments, and service division managers from official Audi dealers throughout Russia.

The Audi Castrol round table started with a conference, where participants could share the latest news and achieve-ments, and discuss the most pressing issues for the Audi dealer network.

Dealers who collect the largest number of points during the promotion will be eligible for especially valuable gifts from Castrol. The grand prize is an exclusive Castrol Europe event, and 2nd and 3rd prize winners will receive a

Castrol EDGE Professional A3 0W-30 for Audi dealers, and also answered all questions on the quality, application and performance of Castrol products.

At the end of the official part, the participants were invited to take a Master course at the quattro Driving School. All participants had a chance to test the Audi A6, S5 and Q5 models on special tracks at the Audi quattro camp. The event-filled day ended with a gala dinner in a relaxed atmosphere with a performance by a contemporary cover group.

More than 50 people gathered for the event, which was also a great opportunity for an open three-party dialog between Castrol, Audi and dealers.

professional reflex camera and the latest ultrathin laptop, respectively. The results of the promotion will be announced in August 2014.

Good luck and big sales to all participants!

PROFESSIONAL CLUB

year of the Professional

The next stage in the Castrol Professional Club promotion began in February of this year. Castrol Professional Club is a long-term loyalty program for Castrol partners and official dealer service stations offering the brands of local strategically important auto manufacturers. They include Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Chrysler, Hyundai and many others. The program was launched for the first time in 2011, and is being carried out for the third time this year.

After announcing their participation, dealers of the above-mentioned brands receive access to the knowledge and experience of Castrol professionals and exclusive gifts and valuable prizes from Castrol. The program conditions are the same as before: participants buy Castrol Professional oils, take part in Castrol Professional training and consulting programs and other club activities, and receive points for this, which can later be exchanged for exclusive souvenirs of the 2014 Soccer World Cup.

The main topics at the conference were the current situation on the market for Audi Russia's after-sales business, key projects and objectives for 2014 and the new CSS 2014 standards.

The Castrol representatives talked about joint marketing initiatives with an importer. They also gave dealers the details of the modern LEAN approach to the Castrol Professional consulting programs and offered exclusive methods for increasing the dealerships' productivity.

There was special interest in a presentation by a Castrol technical team. The experts talked about the outstanding features and characteristics of the new

DEAR PARTNERS, WE INVITE YOU TO TAKE PART IN THE NEW ROUND OF THE CASTROL PROFESSIONAL CLUB 2014 LOYALTY PROGRAM

09 CastrolNews

vOLvO

Exclusive for volvo

Castrol is marketing the new Castrol EDGE Professional V 0W-20, a product designed especially for the new generation of Volvo engines.

Volvo began supplying engines from the new VEA product line to Russia in early 2014. The first engines in this lines were the B4204T11 (a 245 hp turbocharged gasoline engine) and the D4204T5 (a 181 hp turbocharged diesel engine).

For the first time ever, Volvo developed its own motor oil specifications — VCC RBS0-2AE — when it was designing these engines. A special feature of the new oil specifications is a guarantee of high performance and improved fuel efficiency of the new engines.

Volvo engineers worked together with Castrol technical specialist is designing

the new generation of engines in order to ensure the oil fully met its stringent requirements.

SEAT

The Best — Together

Castrol has become an official partner of the national round of the SEAT Top Service People 2013.

The annual Top Service People competition among employees of after-sales service departments of SEAT dealerships is held in three stages around the world: national and international. Two of the best professionals from two categories are chosen at the end of the national stage.

Top Service People was created to enhance the professional skills of dealership employees and to motivate them to further achievements within the brand.

The national round of this competition was held in Moscow from December 3 to 6. Participants included SEAT technical specialists and service consultants from dealerships throughout Russia, who showed good results in the preliminary round. In order to win, participants had to collect the largest number of points in three practical and two theoretical exercises.

The mechanic and diagnostician were Alexander Pospelkov (Riviera, Moscow) and Mikhail Makarov (Catalonia Auto, Ekaterinburg); and the winners in the «Service Consultants» category were Vyacheslav Devyatkin (SK-Motors, Rostov-on-Don) and Andrei Tarasyuk (Catalonia Auto, Ekaterinburg). The winners received prizes of super-thin laptops from an internationally known manufacturer presented by Setra Lubricants LLC (Castrol Russia), the official partner of the competition. The awards ceremony took place at the Forza go-cart track attended by fans of the dealerships

and representatives of SEAT and Castrol Russia.

The winners at the national stage will have the opportunity to show their abilities at the international level.

The international final of the SEAT Top Service competition will be held in Barcelona from April 25 to 27, 2014. The very best will be determined by the number of points collected after two theoretical exercises, namely, the history of the brand and professional foundations, and in one practical test.

Best of luck to our colleagues in the international final!

Castrol EDGE Professional V 0W-20 oil was developed for use at official Volvo service stations. The unique microfiltration system and emission in the ultraviolet range guarantees the product's exclusiveness and quality.

Volvo and Castrol have been collaborating for more than 11 years. Castrol oil is used for initial filling in each new Volvo vehicle. In addition, Castrol EDGE Professional motor oil is recommended for exclusive use in the Volvo dealership network.

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PeoPle

Premium Commercial ClassMIkHAIL SEMENIkHIN, HEAD OF THE RUSSIAN DIvISION OF vOLkSWAGEN COMMERCIAL vEHICLES, TALkED TO CASTROL NEWS ABOUT WHy THE BRAND HAS WON LEADING MARkET POSITIONS

It probably wouldn't be a mistake to say that not many consumers can see the difference between the Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands. Where does one start and the other end?

It's easy to get confused. The names are similar. The same dealerships often sell and service vehicles of both brands. However, these brands are independent, just like ŠKODA and SEAT are independent of one another. Of course, they're all part of thee Volkswagen concern, but they have a certain amount of freedom to operate. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is headquartered in Hannover (the management of Volkswagen passenger cars is located in Wolfsburg.  — Ed. note) and has its own design team, production facilities, and most importantly, a unique model line.

Who are the key players on this team?

To be honest, it's impossible to list all the players. The number of versions of each model reaches a thousand, if you combine engines, transmission, base length, headroom, carrying capacity, purpose, and number and type of doors. Look at out catalog and see for yourself how many pages of specifications there are. But these are the basic model lines: the Caddy, which is popular both as a commercial van and a family vehicle; Amarok, which shot up to third place in pickup sales in Russia in 2013, beating

more experienced players; T5 series, the sales leader, represented by the Caravelle, Multivan, Transporter and California models (the last one is a house on wheels in minivan format. — Ed. note), and finally the Crafter, which can be considered a light truck

I would also like to mention the large number of special versions of the vehicles built on our base models, like fixed-route taxes, ambulances, cash collection vehicles, mobile laboratories, and vehicles for emergency and rescue services.

What were your results at year end 2013?

We sold 551,900 Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles around the world, exceeding the figure for 2012. In Russia, we sold 15,915 vehicles, increased our market share from 7.6 to 8.2 % and held on to first place among Russian light commercial vehicle importers. Only GAZ and UAZ sold more vehicles, but they are local manufacturers who operate in a difference price range.

There is an opinion that Volkswagen commercial vehicles are too expensive.

It depends on what you're comparing them with. First, don't forget that our vehicles are premium-class commercial vehicles. You don't even need to open the door of a Multivan Business to be convinced of this. The trim is as good the trim in a business-class aircraft. Just look at the Amarok: in terms of comfort level, it deserves the name of first European pickup. Second, remember that our commercial vehicles are a professional tool designed for many years of daily service. How many times per shift does courier company driver open and close the doors? Probably more than the average car owner. This safety factor is built into the body design and in the materials of the components. Third, it's not so much about the price of the vehicle when you buy it as the cost and driver's comfort. There are a lot of factors. Fuel consumption.

11CastrolNews

The line of high-performance TDI and TSI engines allow us to achieve superior results. The all-wheel-drive Amarok with 140 hp diesel engine is a big, serious off-road vehicle that uses less that 8 l per 100 km on average. Reliability. It's well known that for commercial carriers, equipment malfunctions aren't just annoying; they mean disrupted plans, lost money and loss of customers' trust. We're so convinced of the quality of our vehicles that during the warranty period, that is, at least two to three years, if there are any malfunctions caused by the manufacturer, we provide a courtesy car. This isn't an advertising ploy, but an actual program called "Mobility Guarantee". In addition, the broad geography of dealers — more than 100 centers from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok — means we can provide assistance anywhere in the country.

The reliability of our vehicles and reasonable price policy of official service centers mean that leading insurance companies can offer our customers very attractive comprehensive insurance rates starting at 4 %.

Finally, our vehicles lose very little values over the years, which should also be considered. In short, if you take all of these factors together, you find that Volkswagen commercial vehicles have a very favorable price/quality ratio. Sales show that Russian customers know how to count money and look to the future.

Does the definition "commercial vehicles" mean that most of your customers are corporate clients?

No, there are more private than corporate customers in Russia. They make up 60–65 % of our total portfolio. A commercial vehicle isn't just delivery van. We have dozens of versions of family vehicles that are reliable, roomy, practical, have lots of carrying capacity, and stylish at the same time. Take a look at our new models, like the Cross Caddy, Amarok Canyon and California Generation; it's as if they came from the covers of glossy

magazines! It's no exaggeration to say you feel a sense of adventure in them.

Also, when we sell a vehicle to an individual, we don't really know whether or not it's used business. Especially since we don't place any restrictions on use or warranty conditions.

What are you expecting in 2014?Fights for each customer. According to

our forecasts, the market will either remain at the previous level or will grow very slightly, by 1–2 %. Under these conditions, our objective will be to continue increasing our share. What are we relying on? Two basic rules. First. We operate on the premise that our customer must always be sure of his mobility, so that if there is any problem with a vehicle, we will come to help. Second is concern for dealers. Only a dealer who is satisfied with the importer's operations can make the customer happy.

Last question: Why does Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles recommend Castrol lubricants?

The answer is simple: we're confident of the high, stable quality of these products, and we don't want to experiment with

customers' vehicles. If you want a more detailed answer, I'll put it this way. Commercial vehicles are subjected to heavy loads. We use the latest engines, which have exceptional efficiency and environmental indicators, but are very demanding when it comes to oil quality. Castrol engineers work closely with Volkswagen engineers, so they know each other's requirements exactly. Plus our experience, like the Amarok Polar Expedition, where a convoy of pickups covered a very challenging route nearly 16,000 km through our country at temperatures down to minus 52 C, also says something.

Of course, the engines in our trucks were using Castrol oil.

Mikhail SemenikhinBorn in Moscow in 1967, graduated from the Moscow Institute of Com-munications with a degree in data transmission systems. He received an MBA in 2004. He started working at Volkswagen's Russian representative office in 1999. He has been Head of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Russia since 2005. He is married with two children.

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12 CastrolNews

The Goal is Efficiency

A CONFERENCE FOR DISTRIBUTORS OF CASTROL LUBRICANTS FOR COMMERCIAL vEHICLES TOOk PLACE IN MOSCOW ON FEBRUARy 3. THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EvENT WAS A PRESENTATION OF THE NEW CASTROL vECTON OILS THAT MAkE BUSINESS MORE EFFICIENT

requiring high-quality lubricants is increasing.

The Castrol Vecton line for commercial vehicles includes six products with a wide range of tolerances and specifications designed for different types of vehicles. During the event, distributors from all federal districts of the Russian Federation heard detailed presentations on the special features of the unique technology used in Vecton oils. It is called System 5™, and is aimed at making the use of trucks more efficient. Numerous laboratory tests carried out in independent laboratories have shown that the performance of Castrol Vecton exceeds industry standards by 40 %. This indicators has a direct effect on important parameters like fuel and oil consumption, increasing oil change intervals, improving engine output and protecting parts.

Employees of Setra Lubricants presented the participants with marketing tools for promoting the new products. They included both traditional advertising and PR and modern methods using advanced technologies.

The Strongest Wins

THE kAMAZ MASTER RACE TEAM WON A RESOUNDING vICTORy IN THE ANNUAL DAkAR 2014 RALLy RAID. THE WIN WAS THE 12TH FOR THE RUSSIAN TEAM IN THE HISTORy OF ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH CASTROL

ACCORDING TO data of the Autostat agency, a consistent trend has formed on Russia's commercial vehicle market: obsolete domestic fleets are being replaced by modern foreign-made trucks. More specifically, Autostat is forecasting an increase in the market share of foreign manufacturers from 18 % in 2013 to 25 % by 2017. Meanwhile, the share of European market leaders (MAN, Volvo, Scania, Mercedes-Benz, DAF, Iveco and Renault) is continuing to grow even during economic instability. This means that the proportion of modern equipment

ALTHOUGH NOWADAyS the Dakar rally no longer held in Africa, it's still considered the world's main and most prestigious race marathon. At the start are buggies, SUVs and motorcycles prepared to accomplish the impossible and overcome conditions at full speed that make not just driving but survival difficult.

Racing trucks are in a league of their own. The uncontested favorite for decades has been our country's KAMAZ-Master race team. Russians have been frequent winners of both the African Paris – Dakar

raids and the new version of the Dakar in Latin America. Castrol has been a partner of the KAMAZ-Master team for the last 20 years. Here's what Vladimir Chagin, a seven-time Dakar winner, international master of sports and manager of KAMAZ-Autosport, has to say about this: "Our partnership began 20 years ago. We've used Castrol products in our KamAZ sports models ever since in the engines, and we use grease in the transmission. Rally raids take place in harsh conditions. In Africa and South America, the temperature inside reaches 50 C. This means that the

car's engine and all components are really stressed. So the choice of high-quality, reliable lubricants is critical. The outcome of the whole race may depend on this."

This year's race was extreme, and not just because of the weather conditions. During the raid, one of the team's lead pilots, Andrei Karginov, became ill. But despite the high temperature and feeling unwell, he kept on fighting to the end.

"We were going fast, but with some leeway and some safeguards to avoid puncturing the tires, because there were a lot of sharp stones," Karginov recalls. "It was a pretty risky situation. But luck was on our side. There were a lot of dangerous moments in the whole race, but the pilot's main challenge is to get out of them unscathed. Like when we were tearing along a narrow mountain ridge (literally the width of the truck), and plunged down steeply from inertia. We were so high up, the helicopter flying ahead was below us!

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13CastrolNews

The truck was pulled down. Then we climbed out onto the stones only after tuning on all the interlocks."

The Russian team's persistence paid off: Karginov was first at the finish line, wining the 12th Golden Bedouin prize for the KAMAZ-Master team. It's worth noting that the team's other pilots — Nikolaev, Sotnikov and Shibalov — won third, fourth and fifth places.

Special Recommendations

SETRA LUBRICANTS LLC AND MAN TRUCk & BUS RUS LLC ARE CONTINUING THEIR SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP ON THE RUSSIAN MARkET UNDER A GLOBAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN CASTROL AND MAN SIGNED IN 2010

PARTNERSHIP with leading auto manufacturers is on Castrol's list of strategic priorities. One of the results is optimum compliance of Castrol products with the characteristics of equipment from specific manufacturers. The company is making significant investments in joint R&D and marketing research, which keeps it at the peak of innovations in the automotive industry.

In over a century of partnership with auto manufacturers, Castrol has

accumulated vast experience and understanding of the special features of the automotive business.

The long-term partnership agreement signed between MAN and Castrol in October 2010 was another important step in this direction. The agreement opens the way for production collaboration between the two companies in developing innovative technologies, and creating and marketing new lubricants. Castrol and MAN will work together for the future

by carrying out research to solve current technical, economic and environmental problems. "We're convinced of the great prospects for partnership of two technology leaders. Creating new products will be an integral part of this collaboration, just like joint development and promotion of new concepts, ideas and services for the transportation sector. We're also convinced that our customers will gain specific advantages from this agreement," says Dr. Frank Hiller, Executive Director for Marketing Sales and Services at MAN Truck & Bus AG, in commenting on the idea of carrying out joint R & D.

Close cooperation between MAN and Castrol engineers has resulted in the development of products that provide maximum protection of units and components of MAN vehicles. But it's not just lubricants that MAN's requirements as far as possible. Special programs have been developed for dealers to increase profitability of the dealerships. This is why they are exclusively recommended by MAN Truck & Bus AG.

You can see this recommendation in the operating manuals for MAN and NEOPLAN trucks and buses and on plates in the engine compartment.

14 CastrolNews

N THE SECOND half of 2013 our colleagues from Castrol Ukraine started the IWS campaign for independent service stations. Companies wishing to participate in the project were invited to decorate their outlets with Castrol's branding items such as posters, banners

and other visual items to attract attention. Preliminary results are already known.

— What results did you get under this project? — we put this question to Yevgeny Konyukhov, Head of Sales in the FORSAZH distributor company.

Positive visualization

Oil for the Manufacturer

A CAMPAIGN HELD IN MAJOR UkRAINIAN CITIES TO DECORATE INDEPENDENT SERvICE STATIONS WITH CASTROL EDGE AND CASTROL MAGNATEC BRANDING HAS FINISHED. COMPANIES FROM kIEv, DONETSk, ODESSA AND SIMFEROPOL PARTICIPATED IN THE CAMPAIGN. ITS EFFECT ExCEEDED ExPECTATIONS.

N JANUARy Castrol Ukraine started the first deliveries of transmission oils to the KrASZ plant in Kremenchuk, which assembles vehicle of the Chinese Geely brand using the semi-knocked-down method. The auto manufacturer chose Castrol products for initial filling

at the local level. Negotiations are currently underway to expand the cooperation level between the companies. This includes using Castrol motor oils in engines of the entire Geely model line.

This cooperation was made possible, among other things, by long-term and very successful

Ukraine

I

I partnership relations between Castrol Ukraine and AIS Group of Companies, the official importer of the Geely brand in Ukraine.

Today, the Chinese auto manufacturer is one of the leaders in car sales in Ukraine. The company's brand is represented on the local market by eight models of passenger cars and crossovers: Geely CK, Geely MK New, Emgrand EC-7, Emgrand EC-7 RV, Geely SL, Geely MK-Cross, Geely LC and Geely LC Cross.

CASTROL UkRAINE HAS WON AN IMPORTANT STRATEGIC vICTORy ON THE LOCAL MARkET: CASTROL TRANSMISSION OILS HAvE BEEN SELECTED By THE AUTO MANUFACTURER TO BE USED FOR INITIAL FILLING OF GEELy CARS.

15 CastrolNews

kazakhstan

In FiguresTHE kAZAkHSTAN AUTO-BUSINESS ASSOCIATION (kABA) HAS PUBLISHED DATA BASED ON AN ANALySIS OF kAZAkHSTAN'S CAR MARkET FOR 2013. IN THIS ISSUE OF CASTROL NEWS, WE PRESENT A BRIEF OvERvIEW OF THE MAIN TRENDS OF THE COUNTRy'S MARkET.

AST year was a landmark for Kazakhstan's car market for several reasons. First, Kazakhstan confirmed its status as one of the world's fastest growing car markets, ranking fourth among the top ten countries in this growth category. Second,

local production of passenger cars and trucks once again reached an all-time high, due to growing demand, increased loading of production facilities, and new investments in Kazakhstan's automotive industry. And, most importantly: sales of official car dealers increased by 69% compared to 2012 (165,700 vehicles in 2013, compared with 98,200 in 2012). The main conclusion is obvious: all of this shows the growth potential of distributors and entrepreneurs involved in after-sales service and on the auto parts market in the republic.

In addition, KABA's expert analysis showed that the following trends could be identified on Kazakhstan's car market: First, the upward trend in sales continues. Second, the market structure broken down by vehicle classes remains almost unchanged, and classes B and C are still the sales leaders. The compact SUV segment has also entered the top three. Increased demand for locally produced vehicles (imported brands manufactured in Kazakhstan) is another important trend. Thus, the share of sales of locally produced vehicles has increased from 7% in 2006 to 21% in 2013. New brands entered the market in 2013, including the British-Chinese MG, and the French Peugeot brand.

Official dealers imported 130,700 vehicles in 2013 (vs. 76,700 in 2012). Russia supplied Kazakhstan with nearly 87,000 new vehicles for various purposes. Other major importers include Japan (14,300 vehicles) and Uzbekistan (13,700 vehicles).

Despite the upward growth trend, it should be noted that the share of vehicle sales by

L

Castrol's global partners was only 5.4% (8.342 vehicles) of total sales. Detailed information on brand sales and their growth are given in the table.

— This project enhanced the image of service stations for end users while also allowing customers to see Castrol products from a different angle. For example, our client Ms. Beldiy, a director of two service stations in Kiev, noted that the eye-catching exterior of service stations increased customer traffic and attracted new customers for Castrol motor oil. The head of another company, sole proprietor Galian, based in Odessa said that decorating the store and service station helped his company to emphasize its status.

Mr. Konyukhov added that Castrol motor oil sales in Ukraine have demonstrated an average growth of 20% (previously Castrol and Mobil motor oils were sold in equal shares). Moreover, this project helped optimize the portfolio of oil brands and consequently raise the company's marginal profit.

Castrol on PitLinePitLine, a Ukraine-wide network of oil change centers (OCC) with more than 100 locations in all regions of the country, has been a Castrol partner for the last three years. The partnership got a boost at the end of 2013 and in early 2014, when Castrol and PitLine launched an outdoor branding program from Castrol The bright banners attracted the attention of potential customers and decorated the fronts of PitLine's oil change centers. The banners also have another important task besides attracting attention: they inform car owners about the advantages of Castrol EDGE. The project was monitored by Maxim Timoshenko and Dmitry Bakhmatsky.

16 CastrolNews

SALES & MARKETING

Ekaterina Narskaya gave a talk on "Advancement and Training of Personnel for Castrol's Exclusive Teams". Svetalana Besedina told the audience about the special features of optimizing relations with distributors developed by Castrol professionals, and then presented an analysis of the tax consequences when paying bonuses and offering discounts.

After a short break, the program continued with presentations on Castrol products. Sergei Tsybulkov talked about the group of lubricants for commercial vehicles (Commercial Oils), Vyacheslav Kholopov presented the Castrol Vecton line, Valentina Gosudareva covered the topic of Castrol EDGE, and Ekaterina Rozanova gave a talk on Castrol Magnatec. This section ended with a talk on Castrol's marketing plans in Russia for the current year by Denis Pupchenikov and reports on coordination of work between the supply department and distributors.

Following a lunch break, the participants listened to reports on motor oil sales to key customers and the development strategy for industrial oils. This was followed by a short question and answer session, where all of the speakers explained the fine points of their reports. Finally, there was an awards ceremony for winners of the Castrol Distributors' League. The postscript of the conference consisted of a short, but very important training course on issues of business ethics. A gala dinner at the hotel restaurant awaited visitors and participants at the end of the conference.  

Good Show

SETRA Lubricants held a traveling conference in February for its distributors in Russia and the CIS. Conference participants had a chance to see the oil production process for themselves, learn all about the company's plans for the coming year and upgrades of the Castrol product line.

On the first day, participants arriving for the conference visited the Castrol plant in the Turkish city of Gemlik. The tour lasted the whole day and was a memorable experience for everyone: it's not every day you get to see the whole production process for yourself, starting at the chemistry labs and ending with

filling cans with the finished product and attaching labels.

The next day, the visitors gathered at the trendy Hilton Bursa Hotel, where the conference was located and the main event was held. CEO of Setra Lubricants Leonid Kobrin, and manager of the lubricant division, CIS, Turkey and Scandinavia, Omer Dormen welcomed the participants at the start of the conference. The the main part with reports and presentations began. Alexei Myasenko reported on the Castrol's operating results in Russia for 2013 and talked about future plans.

АМГ Лубри Норд

Ойл-Д

Интеравто

Восточная республика

Альфа Влад ОйлВосточная республика

Элитойл

СибоилАвтолидерГраник АвтоАргус-Омск

Горст

Эверест-Инвест

Валдай

ТД ПросторБерг

Берг

Мега Ойл

Лимузин

КастерАвтотерра

Авто Траст

СТ-Профит

Профит ЛигаЮмакс

Экспрессойл

Хай Тек

17 CastrolNews

Steps to Success

IN THE LAST issue we talked about Castrol's «Route to market» (RTM project — a tool for helping the company implement a development strategy for 2012–2017. The first phase of the RTM project ended in March.

In March of this year, Castrol completed the first phase of the RTM project to implement automated sales force management systems (SFA) and select so-called dedicated Castrol teams of the best distributors showing the best business performance. This step is crucial for implementing the RTM project.

An automated sales force management system not only registers actual sales, but also calculates volumes of purchases. It enables Castrol employees to plan supplies more accurately, track the activity of sales personnel and buyers in various regions, and with this in mind, decide whether to carry out additional marketing activities for the Castrol and BP trademarks.

The advantages of this decision are obvious:

Distributors have the opportunity to increase sales and manage their business on-line using remote control of mobile sales. In addition, a distributor can give its employees business tasks and track their progress in real time.

Employees of distributors who have already implemented RTM will be able to check the effectiveness of this tool for themselves. Two reports are shown in Figures 1 and 2: the first was generated by sales reps before the project was implemented; and the second was was generated after implementation. Looking at these reports, you can see how much the situation has changed: in the second case, the sales reps carefully followed the planned routes and their performance improved significantly.

Distribution reports have an important role in the context of the whole RTM project. Castrol professionals use it as a basis for making decisions to run product promotions or to change the focus during talks with customers.

In our experts' opinion, in order to obtain maximum benefit from implementing RTM tools, business processes must be redesigned as follows this year:

— demand and supply planning must be carried out through the

joint efforts of the marketing, sales and logistics departments based on data from the automated sales force management system, with consideration of competitors' performance indicators and overall economic factors.

— itineraries for sales reps must be planned so that they not only have the opportunity to sell and distribute, but also to monitor potential points of sale promotions.

— marketing initiatives must be planned and implemented on the basis of information on sales from a distributor's warehouse. This information must be comprehensive and structured: how the sales channels operation, how individual products are sole, which product groups are in greatest demand, etc.

— all promotions must be assessed according to sales data received from distributors' customers.

— a network of sub-distributors (dealers) must be set up, and new retail conditions must be used to improve the quality of customer service.

All of this is possible only with coherent joint efforts of Castrol teams, distributors and their branches. Professional training and competence of all those involved in the process are equally important. To assess these qualities, Castrol Russia is moving to the next phase of the RTM project, which involves assessing and increasing the competencies of our own and distributors' employees.

ABOUT RTM

The «Route to market» project is a tool for helping Castrol fulfill its five-year development strategy for 2012–2017. In order to implement this project, its participants are focusing on three key goals and objectives:— to form the industry's best pool of distributors able to meet the meet the needs of automotive stores, service centers and vehicle fleets to the highest standards. Castrol and BP products are supplied on time and in the required amount; — forming and training a competitive sales department;— implementing advanced technologies for automating mobile sales and providing real-time management information for demand planning, marketing, sales and logistics departments to allow for fast, accurate decision-making when choosing the most effective tools for demand creation and supply chain planning.

Fig. 2

Fig. 1

Best distributors

in the industry

Advanced technologies for business

support

Competitive sales

department

RTM

18 CastrolNews

SALES & MARKETING

the promotion only if the purchasing manager "mentions" him. An SMS with the access code to "My account" on the promotional website is sent to his mobile phone number. The salesperson's next task is to register the digital codes from the labels on containers sold or check whether the purchasing manager has done this.

*For detailed conditions and to take part in the promotion, contact the Castrol representative in your region.

Streak of Luck

CASTROL IS LAUNCHING A COMPAIGN FOR MOTOR OIL SALES STAFF AND PURCHASING MANAGERS AT SPARE PARTS STORES

In February, Setra Lubricants, Castrol's exclusive importer in Russia and the CIS, announced the start of a new promotion to stimulate lubricant purchases and sales. "Streak of Luck" is intended for purchasing managers and lubricant sales staff. It basically consists of the following.

Since the start of this year, all containers of Castrol lubricants have have a label with a barcode and 13-digit code. This label on the container is a guarantee that it is a genuine product actually

manufactured by Castrol. But that's not all. The digital code gives purchasing managers and sales staff a chance to receive bonuses.

HOW IT WORkS*A purchasing manager must register on the promotional website. After registering he obtains access to "My account" — a personal section of the site where he can register all codes and labels in convenient electronic form and indicate all retailers to which he supplies lubricants. The following should be noted: if the manager does not register a code or mention "his" salesperson, the salesperson cannot receive his part of the bonus for this code.

The manager receives bonus points for each digital code. The number of points differs for different products. Points are accumulated for a month. At the end of the month, each participant receives a cash reward.

A salesperson may take part in

STREAK OF LUCK PROMOTION

FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE CASTROL PROMOTION

Get involved

SUPER BONUSES■ Buy original Castrol products at official distributors.

■ Take part in the «Streak of Luck» promotion.

■ Receive bonuses and recharge your mobile phone account with a QIWI wallet or WebMoney.

■ Enjoy the rewards.

19 CastrolNews

A proven choice

HOW DO yOU CHOOSE THE MOTOR OIL yOU NEED FOR yOUR CAR? WHO DO yOU TRUST TO MAkE THE CHOICE AND HOW DO yOU kNOW IF THE PRODUCT yOU BUy IN AN UNFAMILIAR PLACE IS ORIGINAL?

Castrol specializes in developing high-tech lubricants, from motor oils for cars and motorcycles to specialized products for various components. Respected brands like BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, SKODA and SEAT trust Castrol. All of them recommend Castrol lubricants for use in their vehicles' engines.

When Castrol engineers develop new products, they don't limit themselves to compliance with current industry standards, They create original methods to testing lubricants that allow them to perfect product specifications. For this

reason, Castrol motor oils not only meet, but surpass industry standards.

However, there are some "buts": First: motor oils have different specifications and tolerances. Tolerances are encoded in special abbreviations that are generally printed on the label of the can (e.g., VW 503). Specifications are parameters like viscosity grade and other properties of oils coded in a special index.

We'll give some examples. One of the products in the Castrol EDGE line has the index 5W-30. In this case, 5W is the low-temperature viscosity. This value indicates the minimum permissible temperature at which a cold engine will be able to turn over (make a cold start) without dry friction of internal parts. To put it more simply, it's the thermometer down to which the oil doesn't thicken or lose its properties. However, 5W shouldn't be taken literally: you need to subtract 40 degrees from the figure 5. As a result, we obtain -35 C.

The second part of the index, i.e., 30, indicates the oil's maximum and minimum viscosity grade during operation at temperatures of 100–150 degrees. This higher this number, the higher the viscosity grade. Only the car manufacturer knows how much this suits the engine of a particular vehicle.

The rule of "the more the better" doesn't work in this case.

Of course, the ordinary car enthusiast doesn't have to know any of this or focus on tolerances and viscosity grades like an engineer. That's why Castrol Russia has concerned itself with making the correct choice of oil simple and accessible for everyone.

A special configuration tools was launched on the Russian-language website www.castrol.com/ru at the end of last year for this purpose. Clicking on the "Choosing oil" button takes you to the next section. There you need to choose the vehicle category (passenger car, van, etc.), brand, model and type of engine (if the model is equipped with different types of engines). If you click on "Recommendations", you get an extensive list of Castrol products that can be used for the units and components of your car. They include motor oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid and coolant.

When you click on the link "Where to buy/replace" you go to the search page for the spare parts stores and service stations nearest you, where you can get an oil change for your car. In the on-line catalog you can select the closest oil seller or service station and plan a route to them. Along with the address, the catalog lists the number of the partner's certificate from Castrol with its unique number and validity period. This means that you can trust this store or service center.

At present, there are more than 4,000 retail outlets and service stations throughout Russia in Castrol's electronic database. And this list is constantly growing. CHOOSING OIL

Choose an oil for your car

We hereby confirm that

AGA-Аutomag

is an official Castrol partner

and sells original Castrol products.

The certificate is valid until December 31, 2014.

Setra Lubricants is the exclusive importer of ot Castrol lubricants in the CIS.

Representative of Setra Lubricants__________________

The authenticity of this certificate is confirmed by the presence of this point in the section on «Where to buy» on the official website of Castrol Russia — www.castrol.com/ru

AGA-АutomagParts storesAddress: ул. 22/14 Zelenodolskaya St.Tel.: 8-499-172-27-57Certificate No.: 000166Certificate valid until: 2014-11-27

CERT

IFICA

TECASTROL MOTOR OILSTHERE IS A BIT OF CASTROL'S MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN EACH CAMPRODUCT LINE

CHOOSING OIL

CASTROL EDGE

CASTROL MAGNATEC

CASTROL GTX

Choose an oil for your car

Most extreme conditions

Protection from the first second of starting the engine

Reliable operation in any conditions

20 CastrolNews

CAMPAIGN

100%

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IN 2014, CASTROL RUSSIA WILL CARRy OUT FULL-SCALE SIMULTANEOUS ADvERTISING CAMPAIGNS FOR THE CASTROL EDGE AND CASTROL MAGNATEC BRANDS. BOTH STRATEGIES WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AS AS TRADITIONAL ADvERTISING MEDIA (BILLBOARDS, MASS MEDIA) AND USING ADvANCED DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

themed sites, search engines, contextual advertising, bloggers, social media and theme-based forums. There is special emphasis on "unique clicks": in the Magnatec campaign: users should not only remember a viewed slogan or branding, but also go to the Magnatec Academy page, which is a specially designed site with a single interactive platform created to promote Magnatec oils.

This site also has an accessible and entertaining FAQ page on motor oils.

Eastward!

N 2014, Castrol Russia will carry out full-scale simultaneous advertising campaigns for its main brands, Castrol EDGE and Castrol Magnatec. Both strategies will be implemented as as

traditional advertising media (billboards, mass media) and using advanced digital technologies.

In all directions — that's how you could describe the advertising campaigns Setra Lubricants LLC (Castrol's exclusive importer in Russia and the CIS) is launching this year.

The first campaign is targeted at promoting EDGE motor oils. The campaign will include banners placed on popular Internet resources, and on special-interest websites (automotive) related to Castrol EDGE content, marketing actions, contextual advertising, and promotion in social media, popular blogs and theme-based forums.

Precise targeting is one of the main advantages of the new campaign. For example, an advertising banner will appear in special-interest Facebook communities and groups with approximately the following content: "The best for your Audi (BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, etc. — depending on the specific community or group)." These targeted placements and search remarketing (displaying an ad you previously viewed on search engines) will help increase coverage of the target audience.

Of course, the campaign also includes traditional forms of promotional advertising and actions designed for response from a wide customer audience. All of this is aimed at increasing customer awareness and attracting them, creating favorable public opinion about the EDGE brand, and increasing the loyalty of a wide customer audience.

I MAGNATEC "RESTARTING"The objective of the Magnatec ad campaign is to remind the audience about the product, significantly increase sales and promote a positive opinion of the Castrol product among consumers.

The campaign was developed in the spirit of a full-fledged, multi-dimensional expansion on the advertising market. The Magnatec brand will be promoted on the Internet using banners, video ads,

Store and clean

Very soon, Castrol Russia will be market-ing Castrol EDGE Titanium FST — a product of the world's most advanced lubricant technology — on the domestic market. The oil is designed for operating under the most extreme loads and providing reliable protec-tion for engine components and systems. Castrol engineers and designers are calling it the most durable oil in the company's history. For more details, read the upcoming editions of Castrol News.

Structure of the Castrol EDGE promotion in the new ad campaign

SPAC

E, %

Retargeting "INFLUENCERS"

ARTICLES

BANNERS

MULTIMEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA PLACEMENT

Sport and auto resources

Auto resources and Lifestyle

Auto + portals + retargeting

video portals

Video portals

Lifestyle

Auto

Sport

Social media

Portals

21 CastrolNews

100%

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80%

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The Academy tells you how often you need to change the oil in your car, what causes it to degrade, how to calculate the oil change interval, and what type of oil to choose for specific conditions. All of this can really help the ordinary car owner with everyday driving and maintenance. But that's not all. Similar information conveyed in an interesting and attractive form reinforces the trust of potential customers in the Castrol brand, particularly in products of the Magnatec line, the brand under which Academy operates.

Each visitor can also enter contests. After going through the trainers (essentially a discussion of the advantages of Magnatec products), the participants can win a Castrol Roadside Assistance card or the grand prize of a trip to the Castrol Technology Centre in Pangbourne, UK. But there's much more.

On the Academy site, visitors can listen interactively to a discussion of the

properties of motor oil, its performance characteristics, the requirements for testing and replacing it, and other importance and useful things for every car owner. The special advantages of Castrol Magnatec oil are emphasized, of course. Intensive and effective advertising should increase recognition of the Magnatec brand. The task of the Magnatec Academy is to increase involvement of the target audience, and knowledge of its main advantages and brand values.

Promotions are another important activation in this campaign. For example, from the end of February to the beginning of April, there was a chance to win one of 10 LCD TV sets, a satellite TV set and other valuable prizes from Castrol by means of scratch codes on four-liter cans of synthetic oil or Castrol Magnatec 5W-XX.  

Did you know that…

...Twenty-one world speed records have been set with Castrol's support and its lubricants and fuel....Castrol has supplied lubricants for NASA flight hardware since the early 1980s: the agency needed lubricants that preserved their proper-ties even record low temperatures in outer space....The Concorde supersonic airliner was the first to reach Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) using Castrol lubricants.... Castrol was the first company to decide to add special components and agents to improve the cleansing properties of motor oils. Thus, motor oils were «reinvented». ...Castrol has repeatedly shown its leadership not only in technologies and design, but also in marketing and advertising. In 1922, it helped create a new form of advertising — skywrit-ing. A biplane flown by Cyril Turner wrote the word "Castrol" in the sky over St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Every third Magnatec Academy participant has the chance to receive a Castrol Roadside Assistance card.

A special interactive platform called Magnatec Academy was specially created for the Castrol Magnatec campaign, so there was special emphasis on banners and retargeting.

SPAC

E, %

Behavior retargeting

Sport

Auto

News

Social Media

Portals

ARTICLES

Auto

BANNERS

SOCIAL MEDIA PLACEMENT

AutoPortalsRetargetingSport

22 CastrolNews

PRESS REVIEW

"ON MARCH 5 in Geneva, Castrol presented its latest achievement in engineering innovation — the improved Castrol EDGE motor oil using Titanium FST™ technology. In order to demonstrate the potential of the updated product company has set up the special Titanium Trials test series, which will demand real monumental efforts to get through them. The car will have to demonstrate maximum power and performance, as well as respond instantly to any of the driver's actions, in order to cope with these unique tests."

AutoBusiness.info

Official OpinionIN THIS TRADITIONAL COLUMN, WE’RE PLEASED TO DRAW yOUR ATTENTION TO A SELECTION OF MEDIA PUBLICATIONS THAT MENTION CASTROL PRODUCTS AND SETRA LUBRICANTS LLC, THEIR OFFICIAL IMPORTER IN RUSSIA

"MOTOR oils in the Castrol Vecton line can be divided into standard and premium types. They include synthetic, partial synthetic and mineral oils corresponding to viscosity classes 10W-40 and 15W-40."

Avtotrak

"CASTROL Magnatec 5W-40 A3/B is a fully synthetic all-season motor oil designed for use in modern gasoline and diesel engines approved for use by most car manufacturers. Thanks to the special Castrol Magnatec Intelligent Molecules technology, it forms an ultra-tough film on engine parts to provide long-lasting engine protection during start-up."

Avtopanorama

"THE factory team Honda Racing WTCC, a participant in the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship, presented the new Honda Civic at the Geneva Motor Show. The team's pilots, Portuguese Tiago Monteiro and Italian Gabriele Tarquini, will be competing in it in the new season. The car has kept the previous white-green-red colors of Castrol, the official sponsor of the Italian-Japanese stable. "We're pleased to continue our partnership with Honda," said Castrol Manager Donald Smith. "Our first season in WTCC with Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro was quite successful. And there's something special in the fact that two brands with a long and successful history in car racing have united their forces to achieve a common goal."

CarClub.ru

PRESS REVIEW

23 CastrolNews

"CASTROL, one of the world's leading lubricant brands and the official sponsor of the Football World Cup, has signed a contract with forward of Barcelona and the Brazilian team Neymar. He will represent Castrol for 12 months, and will be the face of the advertising campaign during the world championship."

Rambler.ru

"THE COMPANy CONSIDERS the main advantage of Vecton to be the convenience and benefit of using it in large road trains: owing to its wide range of tolerance, the Castrol Vecton line meets the requirements of all leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, making it possible to use the same oils in a mixed fleet."

5th Wheel

"CASTROL EDGE 0W-40 A3/B4 motor oil guarantees unequaled protection of the engine under extreme loads, allowing it to reach its full potential. The oil is designed for gasoline and diesel engines of vehicles whose manufacturers commend motor oils of viscosity class SAE 0W-40 with ACEA A3/B4, A3/B4, API SN/SF specifications or earlier."

Quattroruote

"THE TEAM has been using Castrol lubricants in its trucks for exactly 20 years now, and we have never had any complaints about the responses of technical specialists. Speaking literally: even a single drop of oil is important in the Dakar gold."

Comtrans

"CASTROL has a history going back more than a century, and for all those years, most consumers have associated the red and green brand with oils for cars and motorcycles. But Castrol's business goes far beyond these boundaries. The company has also had long-term strategic partnerships with leading truck, ship and aircraft manufacturers."

Avtopark

"IT GOES WITHOUT SAyING, you can't get away from tests that could last from 30 minutes to 1,000 hours. We have the chance to test 18 engines at the same time," the employee says, as the tour continues. "Plus we have our own climate chamber that you can drive the whole car into. The temperature in it is lowered to minus 25. We could theoretically go down to minus 90, but minus 25 is more than enough to make the necessary conclusions." However, we shouldn't forget the conditions oil works in even at room temperature. Individual parts inside the engine can be heated to 700 degrees, and the pressure on separate areas of them may reach unbelievable values, as if the weight of seven VW Golf cars was pressing on a person's little finger."

AvtoVesti.ru

24 CastrolNews

USEFUL ADVICE

Myths and RealityCASTROL ExPERTS HAvE COLLECTED THE MOST POPULAR MyTHS ABOUT MOTOR OILS AND GIvEN US THE FACTS. IN THIS EDITION WE’RE PUBLISHING PART THREE, WHICH DISPELS FIvE COMMON MyTHS

MYTH No. 11Oil only protects the engine from wear.

MYTH No. 14Before each oil change, you first have to pour

in flushing oil and only then add fresh oil.

MYTH No. 12It's impossible to check oil quality at home.

MYTH No. 13If you put foreign additives in oil, it will work better.

REALITYOil has a lot of different functions.

REALITYNo special flushing is needed for modern oils.

REALITYYou can check it easily with the "drop" test.

REALITYUsing foreign additives is not recommended.

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