| 02-01-2008
At
the present time, it's not just about the cars, exports of Chinese buses are also
in the fast lane, and leading Chinese large and mid-sized bus producer Yutong
wants to take the lead. The
Shanghai-listed group, based in Central China's Henan Province, is aiming for
annual overseas bus sales of 3.6 billion yuan (US$450 million) by 2008, accounting
for 30 per cent of its total projected bus turnover. Yutong's main overseas markets
include Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Southeast Asia. The
company will attempt to boost overseas sales by building more assembly plants
in foreign countries, says Vice-President Wang Wenbin. "Plant construction
(with foreign partners) will help us cut costs on tariffs and more effectively
serve overseas markets," Wang said. Yutong will consider doing this in overseas
markets where its annual sales could reach 1,000 buses in the near term. Yet Wang
says long-term future growth potential is equally important. "We will also
build service networks in our overseas markets at the same time. This is critical
to achieving our expansion goals abroad," Wang says. "Yutong
is heavily investing in spare parts production and maintenance centers in all
of its key overseas markets, an indication that it has learned from the past mistakes
of other Chinese vehicle producers. A number of domestic automakers have already
taken a stab at exporting vehicles, but many eventually lost these overseas markets
when they neglected after-sales services," says Sheng Ningwu, deputy secretary-general
of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Editor
Frederick Wei from Chinabuses.com
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