F&I Management & Training

Hegarty, the director of operations for IM's Subaru, Isuzu and Daihatsu import operations, is currently recruiting dealers amongst the group's existing franchised partners. Last year the group stopped importing new Daihatsu models blaming the unfavourable exchange rate.

Privately-owned
Great Wall, which, unusually for a Chinese carmaker, is privately-owned, and is expected to be the first of a number of Chinese brands, including Landwind and Geely, considering launching into Europe.

Hegarty is confident that Great Wall's cars will appeal to UK buyers.

"There is a risk of underestimating the quality of these cars. Great Wall won't take three or four years to get up to standard, they will arrive fully competitive," he said.

IM, which is handling all European sales, has taken four of Great Wall's models through full EU Type Approval. Using its distribution business in Scandinavia, IM will start to sell them in the Baltic states at the end of this year. The UK introduction is slated for early 2011.

First models
Initially it will offer two models, a new B-sector car the size and type of a Toyota Yaris, which has been shown as CH031 and is also named Phenom, and a pick-up truck. Although Great Wall is setting up an assembly plant in Bulgaria, which will avoid the EU 10 per cent import duty, the cars for the UK will come from China.
The IM Group has operated in the Chinese market for over 15 years, and currently employs a team of 40 at its Beijing office.

DATED: 12.03.10

FEED: MT