Car maker sticks to road to keep the wheels turning

As Chinese auto giant Geely gains traction in the SA market, Henri Meistre, managing director of Geely SA, attributes the success of the company’s supply chain to strong relationships with road hauliers. With vehicles being moved from the coastal ports of entry to its dealerships across the country by road carrier, it is a system that works, said Meistre. “Our volumes are just not big enough to warrant rail as an option for transport and at the same time we don’t hold large quantities of stock. Road transportation allows us a good measure of control over our imports, enabling us to get our vehicles where we need them fast and efficiently.” Most of the Geely cars are kept in bonded warehouses in either Johannesburg or Durban until the dealership requires them. Like many other shippers in South Africa, Geely has to keep costs to a minimum in light of the weakening rand, increasing labour costs, and strike action and fuel and tax increases. Meistre maintains the reason why Geely continues to see growth not just in South Africa but also across the world is due to stricter quality control and better safety features taking the place of the low price, poor quality approach that characterised the Chinese automotive market a decade ago. “Geely has become one of the fastest-growing car manufacturers in the world. The company has turned the page and is in the process of setting up new export records,” he said. Geely increased exports by a massive margin in 2012, exporting more than 81 000 vehicles to its foreign markets, representing over 200% growth compared to the previous year’s 38 000 units. Geely South Africa has also just opened its own R&D Centre in Gauteng, assessing future models for local conditions, said Meistre. “We are hoping to increase our volumes into South Africa significantly in the next few months, especially in light of the new model due to arrive in South Africa by May this year,” he said. CAPTION Geely SA's Henri Meistre ... setting new export records