Chery devoted to aftersales support

WITH so many new Chinese brands entering the Aussie market at present, it can be difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Attractive pricing, teeming equipment lists, and homogenous styling can blur the lines between the growing number of Chinese-made offerings, including Chery, whose Omoda E5 was revealed to local media in Canberra this week.

Which prompted GoAuto to ask the question of Chery Australia’s chief operating officer Lucas Harris – what exactly makes Chery stand out from the crowd?

“We are actually going to stand behind our customers and support them, which everybody says they’re going to do, but often don’t,” he said.

“It is really hard to do – and do right. Even well-established OEMs sometimes struggle in that space.

“Many find that it is relatively easy to bring a car in, get homologation, get some dealers to take you on a get a sales channel. The hard part is what to do once customers are in your cars.”

Doubling down on statements made to GoAuto earlier in the year, Mr Harris said Chery’s unique selling point lies in its ability to underpin its product with readily available parts, and an experienced aftersales team capable of delivering a standard of service Australian buyers expect.

“A long warranty means nothing if you make it painfully difficult for customers to get support,” he emphasised.

“Unfortunately, accidents happen, and waiting for months to get parts is a terrible experience. So, I think it’s a massive point of difference for us that we will stand behind our product.

“We have almost $20 million worth of parts investment in the country. We have a minimum threshold of a 95 per cent bill of materials parts in stock in Melbourne – and that includes for the new Omoda E5 which launches this week.

“To put that in relative terms, if 100 customers had an accident and damaged each corner of the car this week, we’d be able to fix them the next day.”

Beyond the stock of parts available in Chery’s Melbourne warehouse is a carefully selected team of aftersales staff sourced from established importers.

Despite the perceived “newness” of the brand in Australia, Mr Harris said the level of experience local Chery personnel is able to offer customers will sit on par with household-name brands, ensuring customers are in no way disadvantaged should a vehicle become unserviceable.

“Another important consideration is that all our warranty decisions are made in Australia. We’re not sending back to the mothership, waiting for feedback, and explaining back and forth as to what is wrong,” he continued.

“We have local experts who are experienced in retail dealerships and working with customers – and with experience from in OEMs – to provide solid technical support functions.”

Visit GoAuto again soon for our local launch review of the 2024 Chery Omoda E5.