During the exhibition, the heavy trucks like the engineering trucks, tractors exhibited from China FAW, Shaanxi Automobile, FOTON, JAC, attracted the interests from Russian agencies, by means of improving the quality and after-sales services. The export of China heavy truck would increase to Russia in the next two or three years.
There was one example that proved the attraction of Chinese autos in Russian market. The tour began from St. Petersburg and ended at Kazan where there was a one-day field show. However, before the exhibition was over, a truck produced by Shaanxi Automobile Group was ordered by a Russian consumer who had followed the tour. The customer did not care the fact that the truck had run nearly 10,000 km, but was satisfied with the early delivery.
Compared with those new trucks from Europe and the United States, the ones from China had an equal performance on power, but the price was about 50 percent lower. Besides, parts for the second-hand trucks from Europe and USA were expensive, and the safety and reliability of these second-hand trucks were not guaranteed. The prices for Chinese trucks were equivalent to those technology, fuel-efficiency and power, but relatively low use cost.
Though the heavy trucks from China were competitive, it was not so easy for them to expand the Russian market. Nowadays in Russia, engineering automobiles of Chinese brands (dump truck, agitating lorry) are sold better than those of road vehicles (tractor). Because the former could access better service and convenient parts supply when they worked in a certain area. But line haul vehicles had a long trip, while the network of after-sales service was not enough, so they could not supply the timely service. As a result, the Russian focused on the capacity of after-sale service and the quality of Chinese trucks.
Many Chinese automakers have been aware of the importance of after-sales service. Therefore, they did not put export volume at the first place, but focused on the solid work involving after-sale service. It was learned that though Russia was an important export market for Chinese trucks, many enterprises did not plan to increase the export volume of heavy trucks this year. Most of them intended to export around 2,000 or so. ‘According to the actual situation in Russian market, Chinese automakers should improve the adaptability, the quality and after-sales services. Only in this way could they establish a good brand-image and bring more order. This process may take 2 to 3 years, and then China will play a role in Russia truck market and the export volume will hike.’ Many enterprises reached this opinion.
China Auto Daily
Fang Xiaoju
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