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| Derek Hall - Jones,
MD of JAC Trucks SA at the launch of JAC at last year's Auto Africa show. Oh well! Cheers JAC! |
We're not going to say "I told you so". No we're not. We're definitely not going to say "I told you so". Really, we're not.
Commercial Vehicle Holdings (CVH), in conjunction with the Imperial Group has, after "due consideration", decided to cancel the Chinese Jianghu Automobile Company's (JAC) medium commercial vehicle distributor agreement for the South African market.
According to a statement issued by Derek Hall - Jones, MD of JAC Trucks South Africa, a number of factors led to the decision not to launch the JAC product in SA. Prevailing market conditions, the ongoing delays in meeting the homologation requirements and the lack of aftermarket support going forward were among the main concerns.
We must say, FleetWatch thought the JAC exhibition stand taken by CVH at last year's Auto Africa and the press conference announcing the arrival of JAC trucks in South Africa was the official launch. We must have missed something.
"Being able to provide an acceptable level of service to the South African commercial vehicle market is a key objective for both the Imperial group and for Commercial Vehicle Holdings and is critical to success in such a competitive environment. CVH will therefore focus its restructuring activities on the established DAF, Renault and International Truck brands to ensure that these are better positioned to deliver improved customer value and satisfaction.," said Hall - Jones in the statement.
On the 'pat on the back' side - excuse the pun - we compliment CVH on taking this decision based not on prevailing market conditions or even on the ongoing delays in meeting homologation requirement but more so on the fact that the company saw a lack of aftermarket support as a main concern.
FleetWatch has stated so often that up-front price as a main purchase decision - and JAC would have come in at an attractive price as was indicated at the Auto Africa 'launch' press conference - is a foolish purchase decision. It's all about life-time costs and if the aftermarket support is not forthcoming, those life-time costs can cost a company its very life. So on this point, we applaud CVH on its decision. Cheers JAC!
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