Australia and New Zealand are on target to be the first western markets for JAC Trucks
By Gary Worrall | August 13, 2010
Australia and New Zealand are on target to be the first western markets for JAC Trucks, with the official Australian launch due in early 2011.
Jac’s marketing manager, Shannon Taylor, says the Chinese brand is due for release in the first quarter of 2011 in full Euro 5 specification.
“We will launch into New Zealand later this ear with a Euro 4 specification, and then follow that up with the Australian launch early in 2011 in Euro 5 guise,” Taylor says.
The trucks will be imported into Australia by White Motor Corporation, which currently imports Higer buses from China. However, the two brands will be marketed separately.
“JAC is a large company, they have a car company that builds between 500,000 and 600,000 cars per year, and build a similar number of trucks as well,” Taylor says.
He says plenty of work has gone into developing a specification for the Australian models, which includes the Cummins 3.8-litre ISF engine and either Allison automatic or ZF manual transmission.
“We have done plenty of work to get the mechanical specification right, but fortunately the body specifications are virtually identical to Australian needs in areas like wheelbase and so on.”
Taylor is quick to point out the chassis is up to the rigours of the Australian market, with the strength of the steel and the quality of welds independently tested and verified.
Despite the strength of the Australian market, Taylor says the only way for a new entry to gain market share is to buy it from the existing players.
“We will have an aggressive dealer network in place of up to 20 or 25 dealers, in the key market areas they will be truck and bus dealers, while the balance will also be able to service the bus customers.”
While the pricing strategy is being finalised, Taylor says the trucks will be well specified, pointing out the already high standard of fit-out of trucks in the Australian market.
“We will be aggressive because we have to buy the business, but we will be basing our approach on a ‘whole of life’ costing,” Taylor says.
With the addition of Scott Morrison as the national parts manager and Taran Mutch as the national service manager to develop the spare parts and service networks to ensure there is a strong customer service back-up in place, Taylor says it is a case of “watch this space” for JAC Trucks.