The company recently inaugurated a new parts warehouse in Parkhaven, in Boksburg, Gauteng, a mere 14 months after opening the doors to its previous facility. The new facility represents a doubling of storage space.

To put it in perspective, the new facility will hold stock of R70 million at all times and it can hold as much as R100 million in stock, if required. This represents over 4 500 different part lines and a significant investment by Chery South Africa.

“In 2022, Chery’s first full year of sales, the company welcomed 13 142 new customers to the brand. This is a new record for any new entrant in the South African market and it makes Chery the seventh most popular brand in the country,” says Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery South Africa.

“Our choice of the warehouse in Boksburg gives us easy access to all main arteries in and out of Gauteng. It will allow us to dispatch parts to every dealership every day and to receive parts and components for storage throughout the day and night,” he says.

The new warehouse not only represents a major increase in size, but also in complexity. The new facility uses state-of-the-art electronic identification systems to easily find, pick and dispatch stock.

“We are aiming for an industry-leading fill rate of 98%, which will ensure that customers do not wait longer than normal to have their vehicles serviced or repaired,” says Floris du Toit Head of Aftersales Services at Chery. It is worth noting that Chery is already at a fill rate of 97.95%.

Floris says the fill rate also applies to repair parts for vehicles damaged in accidents. Chery holds more than adequate body panels and other vehicle replacement parts that can be ordered by any of its 117 nationally approved panel shops in South Africa.

Chery has steadily expanded its range of lifestyle and functional accessories, including electrically retractable side steps on the Tiggo 8, a range of tow bars for all vehicles and additional cargo and styling solutions for the Tiggo range.

These benefits will also apply to customers of Chery’s new fleet-sales division.

“Chery has seen a significant increase in sales to large fleet operators. Many of these fleet companies have strict requirements for the amount of time that a vehicle is allowed to be booked in for services or repairs. Our new warehouse will ensure that we not only meet, but exceed these strict requirements,” says Floris.

Aside from offering significantly more warehouse space and easy access for delivery vehicles, the new warehouse also has space available for future expansion. Chery is also investigating smaller regional distribution centres that should further improve parts distribution by placing the high-volume service parts closest to customers.