JAC looking to carve a niche with sharp customer experience from day one

JAC Motors has been in business for a relatively short 59 years, and not all of that has been in vehicle manufacturing.

The Chinese carmaker only started building cars on the early 2000s, but it is catching up fast – and one area in which it wants to make up for lost time is in exports.

With the local preview of its JAC T9 dual cab 4x4 this week, the company laid out plans to become an embedded player in the Australian automotive landscape.

The company even brought out a team from head office led by the boss himself, JAC Group Chairman, Mr Xiang Xingchu, to lend support for the Sydney reveal of the new T9 ute.

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Mr Xiang said at the T9 presentation that for JAC, “Australia is strategic market".

"We believe that Chinese auto brands with have more involvement in this market in the future. JAC aims to become a mainstream automotive brand in the Australian market," he said.

While JAC is not the first brand to put a toe into export waters here — or the first Chinese one, for that matter — it also sees that if the brand can survive and thrive in our intensely competitive market, it can succeed in almost any other.

The local ambitions are bold, with Danny Lenartic, Deputy Managing Director of JAC local distributor LTS saying, “We are offering a vehicle with curbside appeal, excellent features and approaching European fit and finish.”

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One area JAC could have faced immediate headwinds is with the National Vehicle Emissions Scheme, expected by most industry commentators to follow the Government’s proposed ‘Option B’ when it is implemented on January 1.

JAC's diesel ute is rated at 203g/km – just 3 g/km over the proposed commercial vehicle threshold limit – but Lenartic said this slight measure over the cut-off could be fixed with minor engineering.

While Lenartic said he did not want to commit to precise timelines, JAC’s Chairman Mr Jiang said the company plans “to introduce the T9 EV 4x4 and T9 PHEV 4x4 in the future” in Australia.

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JAC Automotive’s local distributor LTS Auto has committed more than $40 million to set up the Australian team and aftersales support for its all-new T9 model due in more than 50 dealerships by May.

The launch campaign will lean on an old favourite tune for its marketing, using the catchy Percy Mayfield and Ray Charles song, ‘Hit The Road Jack’. (Presumably the next line, "don't you come back no more", will be cleverly reworded... - Stevo.)

As for how Lenartic believes the T9 will perform on the sales chart, "the market will decide," he says.

"We have priced it accordingly, based on a very aggressive position – given so much tech is in the car and what it offers – but ultimately the market will decide."

The company has a dedicated JAC parts and accessories warehouse in NSW’s Lane Cove, which Lenartic said was established to ensure rapid parts supply as needed. “We want business owners to be confident parts are available”.

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Lenartic said he hopes smooth business practices from the get-go will ensure a strong reputation in the industry. “Our mission is to align our policies to be the easiest OEM to deal with.”

"I’m never going to hold the business to account for a [sales] number. What I’m going to hold the business to account on is the process. It’s the fundamentals: the investment in marketing, the team, customer support, and in the product. Get all of those right, and that builds success. Culminating with supporting the network. The number looks after itself.”

Which models does Lenartic hope the T9 will take sales from?

“All of them."

He clarified that JAC, by keeping in its own lane, would find its own success. “I never focus on others, I only focus on ourselves. It’s like trying to control the weather. Today I wish it didn’t rain but it has; I can’t control that.”

Lenartic added, “We are starting from scratch; we have no legacy — so we should get it right from the start.”