TRANSEQUIP OPENS PH’S FIRST SINOTRUK SHOWROOM
When it comes to economic progress, just about every country in the world looks to China. With its rapid industrialization and infrastructure development during the last four decades, China has become a major economic powerhouse and political superpower, second only to the US.
Key to China’s speedy growth is its investment in heavy machinery such as trucks that haul raw materials, products and important resources to and from different points in the country. Which is why in 1956, the Chinese government established the Jinan General Auto Works Plant in the eastern city of Jinan. Four years later, the plant produced its first truck, the eight-ton Huanghe JN150. Thus started Jinan’s growth to become the cradle of China’s heavy-duty truck industry.
With China’s adoption of the “one country, two systems” policy of the Great Premier Deng Xiaoping, the country opened itself up to foreign investment and partnership with foreign companies, which greatly accelerated its growth. Jinan General Auto Works Plant began to work with Austrian truck manufacturer Steyr, Swedish truck maker Volvo, and German truck builder MAN on the use of European technology in manufacturing Chinese trucks. It was at this point that the company was renamed China National Heavy-Duty Truck Group Co. Ltd., also known as Sinotruk.
Today, Sinotruk is one of China’s largest heavy-duty truck manufacturers. In 2016, it has sold more than 200,000 heavyduty trucks and exported 25,000 units to 90 countries. Sinotruk has seen great popularity particularly in South America, where it is the preferred heavy-duty truck in countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Boliva and Brazil. It even opened its first manufacturing plant outside of China in Lages, Brazil.
Sinotruk currently has representative offices in 40 countries, where it works with a vast network of clients to provide sales, services and spare parts. In the Philippines, Transequip Enterprises (Sinoequip, Inc.), a heavy equipment vendor and distributor founded by entrepreneur Wilfred Chua, is the pioneer and official distributor of Sinotruk. Chua started his company in 2004 selling secondhand Japanese trucks and heavy equipment.
“We are the pioneer when it comes to sales and distribution of the Sinotruk brand in the country. When we started selling Sinotruk units in 2010, we sold more than 100 units that year alone without any sort of advertisement or marketing. Today, Sinotruk is the bestselling truck in the country,” says Chua.
Sinotruk’s entry in the Philippine market through Transequip has allowed it to take a closer look at the market. It began researching the Philippine truck market and found that Filipinos prefer trucks with high horsepower and provide lower fuel and operation costs.
Their research led to the development of the Howo, A7, T7 and C7 brands that are configured for the Philippine market, which they introduced in the country in 2011 through Transequip. The Howo, A7, T7 and C7 products range from tractor dumpers to cargo trucks in 4x2, 6x4 and 8x4 configurations.
“What makes Sinotruk the bestselling truck in the Philippines is because it is adapted to the Filipino market and geography. It is an affordable, durable, highly reliable truck manufactured using technology from European truck makers like Steyr, Volvo and MAN. And the company behind it is owned by Chinese government, which means, you can rest assured that you are buying a truck which the Chinese state has put all its resources and manpower into building and servicing,” Chua explains.
But distributing the country’s bestselling trucks also has its challenges. Because while Transequip is the pioneer distributor of Sinotruk in the country, a grey market for Sinotruk has also emerged in recent years. These unofficial, unauthorized Sinotruk dealers jeopardize the public’s trust in a well-loved brand for their lack of aftersales services and unscrupulous selling practices.
To counter the growing grey market, Transequip and Sinotruk recently opened the first Sinotruk showroom in the Philippines. Located along North EDSA in Quezon City, the new showroom is Transequip’s first showroom dedicated to the Sinotruk brand. It’s the ideal location to check out some of Sinotruk’s latest units being accessible by car or public transportation and is close to some of the country’s biggest shopping malls.
“We opened this showroom because we want the public to know that we are the pioneer and official Sinotruk distributor in the country. And because we only want what is best for our clients, this first Sinotruk showroom in the country also provides aftersales services and spare parts to anyone who buys their Sinotruk unit from us,” Chua states.
The EDSA showroom is manned by experienced and courteous Transequip personnel who will readily attend to whatever inquiries you may have in buying or a servicing a Sinotruk unit. At the service center, trained Sinotruk mechanics carefully check and assess you unit’s condition before giving recommendations, whether certain parts need cleaning, repairing or replacement. For clients in the Visayas and Mindanao region, Transequip can also send their mechanics to check and service your Sinotruk unit so you won’t have to deal with the hassle of bringing your vehicle to Manila.
With the opening of the EDSA showroom, Chua hopes that Sinotruk will continue to reign supreme as the country’s bestselling heavy-duty truck and bolster the public’s trust in the Chinese brand by giving the grey market a run for their money. He’s optimistic that this just the first chapter in the strong and enduring relationship between Transequip and Sinotruk. After all, Sinotruk is no longer just the key to China’s rapid growth. It is also emerging as the one of the keys to Philippine growth as well.