Two issues that have troubled prospective buyers of Chinese-made cars in South Africa are: what’s the quality like, and how reliable are they? Because some Chinese brands haven’t been around long enough to establish trends, it’s difficult to identify any positive or negative trends yet. So, if you’re looking for word-of-mouth recommendations, it’s not that easy.
However, assessments don’t get more “straight from the horse’s mouth” than they would from someone who has to make vehicles work hard and make them earn their money. That’s why I was interested to hear the thoughts of Dirk Klopper, chief revenue officer of Pace Car Rental, one of the first companies to buy large numbers of GWM/Haval models for their fleet. “A lot of people in the business looked at us a bit strangely — as if we were mad — but we got a good bulk deal from GWM, so the price made sense.” Since then, “a few others are starting to follow our example and dip their toes into the Chinese vehicle offering,” says Klopper.
And why is that? Klopper, a trained engineer, agrees that there is no place to hide in a high-turnover, low-margin business like car hire. “Quality and reliability, if they’re bad, will hurt your bottom line,” he adds.
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Just the opposite with Pace’s GWM and Haval vehicles. The company runs a wide varietyof them — from the P Series bakkies (in both two- and four-wheel drive), as well as SUVs like the H6 and the Jolion. “They’re efficient, they’re reliable, and they don’t get stolen,” he says. After 600km behind the wheel of one of the Pace fleet Haval Jolions — the first GWM I have driven — I can’t help but be impressed.
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