As new brands fight for space in an increasingly competitive Australian car market each is looking for an advantage. And there is no bigger advantage than a local ride and handling program, to tailor each vehicle to the unique conditions Australian roads and buyers present.
It’s part of the reason Holden and Ford dominated the market for so long and it helped Hyundai and Kia transform their brand image.
This makes GWM the first Chinese brand to significantly engineer its offerings to Australian buyers and road conditions, and it could spark a wave of similar investment from the other Chinese brands that have recently arrived in Australia.
Chery Australia, which now offers models under the Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo brands has already worked on local programs to modify its active safety systems, and at the recent Omoda 9 launch indicated it is hopeful that it could follow GWM’s lead and move into ride and handling tuning.
Asked if he was concerned about GWM becoming the first Chinese brand to make such a significant move, Omoda Jaecoo Chief Commercial Officer Roy Munoz said it was actually a positive for both sides.
“I think it’s actually a great thing for them, and [Chery product planning manager] Rob [Balchin] and I were discussing, it’s on our wishlist, right?” Munoz said. “It’d be a nice thing to have because it turns a good product into great, and makes it more fit for purpose for the country. So, no, I don’t see it as a concern. And probably to your point, it probably gives us a bit more leverage to say, ‘Hey HQ, I think we should look at this. We should potentially go down this avenue.’”
Munoz made it clear that there are no plans to do it “at this stage” for a local chassis tuning program. And while he admitted he had not personally been involved in any direct conversations with Chery head office, he added “certainly if there was a wishlist that would be on the wishlist.”
He went on to say: “I think there’s a benefit to localizing your product, just again, it takes you from introducing a good product and making it a great product.”
Balchin made the point that Chery Australia is looking at other ways to improve its car’s chances for the local market, even if it isn’t making changes to the suspension hardware and similar mechanical elements.
“That’s not to say that we’re not localising things at the moment… Whilst we’re not doing the hard parts, so to speak, of the vehicle there, there is a lot of local adaptation that we do in terms of software.”
Notably, reports from the UK’s Autocar publication claim the Omoda 5 and E5 (sold in Australia as the Chery C5) have undergone a major upgrade less than a year after going on sale in the United Kingdom. Following negative media reports of both vehicles, Omoda has reacted with changes to the front suspension and steering in an attempt to improve handling.
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