According to Kline & Company’s Global Lubricants Industry: Market Analysis and Assessment 2016, Shell Lubricants has retained its top position in the global lubricants market with a 11.6% market share. This is the tenth straight year that Shell has emerged as the top supplier of lubricants in the world. Speaking about the achievement, Tendani Ndwamise, Direct Sector B2B Marketer, Shell South Africa said that with many countries facing tough economic times and costs going up for equipment maintenance, the emphasis at Shell was on reducing costs and increasing machine run time. He added that Shell Lubricants are designed with the aim of saving costs by maximizing equipment efficiency, prolonging vehicle life and reducing downtime so that companies spend less on the maintenance of engines and equipment operate for longer, thus earning more profit. Based on estimates, Shell sold between 4,400 and 4,600 kilotonnes of finished lubricants in 2015. Of this figure, 36 per cent of the revenue came from consumer automotive, 34 per cent from industrial and 30 per cent from commercial automotive sectors. When it came to the passenger vehicle sector, Shell Lubricants was the market leader in many countries like the United States (22%), Philippines (32%), Malaysia (31%), Canada (19%) and China (14%). One of the main reasons for Shell’s success was the Pioneering Gas-To-Liquid (GTL) technology-based premium passenger car oils, which are manufactured from natural gas at Pearl GTL in Qatar. Shell has also built successful commercial links with many key global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). When it comes to the industrial sector, Shell provides lubricant solutions for a variety of industrial machinery including wind turbines, heavy-duty mining equipment and manufacturing machinery. Shell has conducted research which has shown that buying and using low-quality lubricants can create a false sense of economy. Generally, lubricant costs account for as low as 2 per cent of total ownership costs. Shell’s performance products can help reduce maintenance requirements thus reducing ownership costs and increasing vehicle life over the long run. The company’s services are designed to improve overall maintenance and business practices thereby lowering costs.