WMC announces Chinese subsidiary
With lesson learned from Foton, vehicle distributor places other Chinese prospects under closer scrutinyWMC officially handed back the Australian franchise for the Foton brand just a month ago, but already the independent distributor is casting around for other brands to import.
At the time the company cited irreconcilable quality issues that stood in the way of local market acceptance. Acknowledging that the Foton product was unlikely to meet the demands of local buyers, WMC has now established a Chinese-based subsidiary to oversee purchasing and quality control for any product bound for Australia.
"With WMC China we can continue to guarantee the highest quality product is provided to our customers," said Jason Pecotic, WMC's CEO. "WMC China will enable us to improve research and development and quality control as well as improving parts supply and management by giving us daily contact with our suppliers."
To be based in the south-eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, WMC China will be headed up by general manager, Shi Chunfeng. A qualified automotive engineer, Mr Shi was formerly the Asian Market Manager for Higer Bus, which is how he came to the attention of WMC — local distributors for Higer and Jac Trucks. He will be tasked with recruitment of local staff to assist liaison with Chinese vehicle builders. For the present, WMC is not revealing which companies are on the radar for Australian importation, but Pecotic says a few are under consideration.
"We are in advanced negotiation for a number of other brands and automotive products, which we plan to bring to the Australian market in 2012 and beyond," he said. "These organisations will all have the same specification, price and quality criteria applied."
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