GAC executives say Australian buyers can have more confidence in it than other Chinese car companies because it has decades of knowledge gained from trusted legacy brands.
Electric Cars
GAC will set itself apart from other Chinese brands bringing cars into the Australian market by leaning on what it has learnt through long-term partnerships with Toyota and Honda, its executives claim.
GAC has almost 20 years of experience globally, having established joint ventures with Honda as far back as 1997 and with Toyota since 2004, manufacturing the auto giants’ vehicles for the Chinese market.
In China, GAC (Guangzhou Automobile Group) is one of the top 10 best-selling brands and sells more than 28 million cars worldwide.
According to Katsumata Masato, Chief Technology Officer at GAC International, the company’s ethos is more aligned with legacy brands than new challengers.
“The fundamental mindset at GAC is, I believe, quite unique – different from other OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in China,” he told Drive.
“Quality, after-service…but in the basement, customer first. In that context, we are quite a conventional OEM. We are not digital gadget suppliers.”
The former chief engineer for the eighth-generation Toyota Camry said local buyers could gain confidence from GAC’s ventures with Honda and Toyota, and that its advantage also comes from its ‘four pillars’.
These are strong products, high levels of technology, a healthy local parts supply, and high-quality dealer and after-sales service.
Andrew Ratajczak, Director of Aftersales for GAC in Australia, said the car maker faces challenges ahead in breaking through the stigma that there is about Chinese companies not backing sales with a good ownership experience.
“I can tell you there's a stigma around Chinese brands, especially that they can't supply parts, or they can't service my car,” he told Drive.
“These are the sort of challenges we're going to face with our brand too, if it grows very quickly, but we're going to do our darndest and will strategise the best we can to not allow that to happen, so our customers are always put first.”
That would put it behind Toyota, which last year averaged around 20,000 sales each month, but well ahead of Honda, which sold 15,383 for the full year.
Aiming for a positive customer experience rather than just sales aligns GAC with Honda’s own values.
According to the new President and CEO of Honda Australia, Jay Joseph, many brands, particularly new ones entering the Australian market, are too focused on offering high-end features without spending time fine-tuning the calibration of safety features.
“[A Honda] is a reliable, durable, high-quality vehicle. The tech is easy. Does it have a high appeal, very flashy, huge screen? Maybe not. And we're adding those kinds of tech features, but we don't focus on them,” he told Drive at the recent launch of the updated CR-V.
“And that's why we focus so much on things like tuning the advanced driver assist features to work well so that you don't switch them off.”
GAC also pointed out that it is working hard to set up its own dealerships and ensure steady parts supply, so it does not face the same sales-focused problems that fellow Chinese car maker BYD had when it first entered the Australian market.
Electric Cars Guide
A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
