Triton brings the challenge to competitors
The bakkie war has intensified with the local launch of Mitsubishi’s next-generation Triton, an evolution in the iconic bakkie’s 46-year legacy.
- Product News
- 21 November 2024
The availability of parts and getting them quickly to where they are needed, are the name of game for all vehicle manufacturers.
Haval Motors SA’s (a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Wall Motors) rapid growth in sales necessitates a new parts distribution centre.
“Our business and customer base grew significantly during the last two years, adding significant year-on-year growth to our vehicle parc, the number of dealers and customer base. We also outgrew our current parts distribution centre and have been looking for a new facility since April last year,” says Yusuf Patel, Head of After-sales at Haval Motors SA.
“To date, it has been really challenging, and we have ensured daily focus on minimising customer inconvenience, while being exceptionally constraint and challenged in daily parts operations at the current parts distribution centre. Therefore, moving to our new parts distribution centre in Waterfall (Midrand) is exciting for us and our customers in the delivery of an industry-leading customer experience,” he says.
An operation such as this requires well-considered processes to operate effectively and efficiently. This facility has precisely that framework and will be a significant step-up in parts operations and standards. The new facility allows for streamlining processes and operations to a greater scale, which will reduce lead times and increase parts supply fill rates.
The new Parts Distribution Centre will stock a large selection from small parts, which the growing number of dealers (local and cross-border) can order in small quantities or the fast-moving service, maintenance and repair parts for current and new vehicle models to be launched in South Africa this year.
“The new facility will allow us to stock significantly higher optimised levels of parts and more part numbers to support our customers, dealerships, vehicle parc and sales growth,” concludes Patel.
Haval and GWM brands have become very popular during the past two years with vehicles such as the GWM P-Series, Haval Jolion and H6. GWM last year celebrated 15 years in South Africa after entering the market in 2007 and later with the Haval brand in 2017.
During quarter three of 2022, the HAVAL H6 GT and H6 HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) were launched and recently the Jolion HEV.
Last year, GWM and HAVAL achieved a consistent top 10-ranking on naamsa’s sales figures, including within the top 5 during January.
The bakkie war has intensified with the local launch of Mitsubishi’s next-generation Triton, an evolution in the iconic bakkie’s 46-year legacy.
Unlike in the past, when dealerships primarily waited for customers to come to them, we now take a more proactive approach, bringing our vehicles directly to places where people gather, allowing them to experience the product first-hand, including offering test drives,” says Gerrie van der Kaay, Dealer Principal at Supergroup Dealerships Jetour Midrand.
JAC Motors added ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) to its X200 2.8L TDI 1.5-tonne single-cab, enhancing safety for both the crew and cargo. This latest upgrade complements the ABS-equipped X200 1.3-tonne double-cab targeted at organisations with labour-intensive crews.
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