The FINANCIAL — Demand for Chinese cars is increasing in Georgia.
ISI Auto, the only official car importer from China, is selling up to 25 cars monthly. Demand has increased by 70 percent compared to last year, company representatives claim.
ISI Auto imports several models of Chinese brands Roewe, MG, SG and Jac. The highest demand is for the SG Pick Up Flying. Its price varies from 15,000 USD to 17,000 USD. The price depends on the set of the car. The SG Pick Up Flying has the mixed design of Mitsubishi and Isuzu.
“A pickup of the same design but by a famous brand, for example Mitsubishi, costs 7,000-10,000 USD more,” Giorgi Janelidze, Sales Manager at ISI Auto told The FINANCIAL.
“A Chinese pickup is of the same quality. The reason for its cheapness is that China has the latest technologies and human resources are quite cheap there,” believes Janelidze.
Roewe is the new name of car company Rover. The British brand Rover went bankrupt and was divided into two parts. India bought one part and now they produce Rover jeeps. The second part is Roewe, which is now Chinese. They have changed the name and moved car factories to China. The Roewe factory is also the producer of MG.
The MG TF sport is the most expensive car at ISI Auto. The price is 23,000 USD. This is a business class car with all kinds of sets. The cheapest car ISI Auto offers is the Geely Panda. It’s a car of economic class and costs 8,900 USD. Engine displacement of Geely Panda is 1.3 L. Cars are available with manual transmission as well as electric.
“The main advantage of Chinese cars is that they run on very low quality fuel and oil, which means low price,” said Mikheil Kharati, General Manager at ISI Auto. “And the most important thing is that it doesn’t spoil the car. They can run on leaded fuel as well. Recently we filled an SG Pick Up with used oil and the car worked perfectly.”
“Another serious reason to buy a Chinese car is that they have a very simple system,” Janelidze said. “Most car owners can repair it themselves if the car doesn’t have a serious problem.”
Gocha Goglidze has a Naima Family, a Chinese car that looks like the Mazda Family. He bought the car in 2008 from an individual seller.
“I’m proud of my car,” Goglidze said. “I paid 8,000 USD for a new car and haven’t had any problems with it up till today. But if it needs something, parts and accessories of Mazda are available for Naima also. The car can run on low quality fuel and is very economic. It needs 8 litres of fuel for 100 km,” he claims.
ISI Auto imports cars from China by containers. 4 cars can be brought in one container and the price of transition is 3,000-4,000 USD. A Chinese car can be found on the car market also. Some individual sellers have them, but rarely.
Goglidze also happens to be a car technician. It’s better to buy a new Chinese car than an old car of a famous brand, he believes.
“Several years ago more people tended to show off and buy cars of famous brands,” Kharati said. “Currently more people prefer to buy new Chinese cars. They have realized that it is better to buy a car of good quality, low price and not so famous brand than a 10-15 year old Mercedes which regularly has to go to the garage because of different problems.”
“Our main clients are of the middle classes,” Janelidze said, “But with increased demand, more business class cars are being sold.”
Besides Chinese cars, Chinese tires are also very popular in Georgia. Tegeta Motors is an official tire importer of some Chinese brands: Westlake, Ling Long, Long March, HiFly and Daewoo. The company has been importing 35,000-40,000 tires yearly since 2005.
“Chinese tires make up 17-20 percent of the entire tire sales of our company,” David Tsakatdze, Chief of Tire Division at Tegeta Motors told The FINANCIAL. “We sell them in our network, which has 20 selling shops. Besides that, we distribute to individual sellers too.”
Eliava market is a place where all types of car parts and accessories are sold. Most of the tire sellers at Eliava say that demand for Chinese tires is quite high.
The price of one tire of Ling Long, a Chinese brand, costs about 120 GEL. While the tire of Yokohama, a Japanese brand, costs 160 GEL.
“Ling Long is very popular,” Otar Beridze, tire seller at Eliava market said. “It’s of lower quality than Japanese or Korean tires but demand for it is higher because of the price difference.”
The leader of tire sales at Tegeta Motors is Bridgestone, a Japanese brand, out of Chinese ones it is Westlake.
“The quality of Chinese tires is satisfying for Georgian consumers. Their run is about 35,000-40,000 km, which is quite good for its price,” Tsakadze said.
At the same time, there are a few car technicians and tire sellers at Eliava who advise consumers to buy secondary tires produced in other countries, rather than new Chinese ones.
Chinese auto service is available at ISI Auto as well. They ensure all kinds of service for Chinese cars.
“Any car technician can repair a Chinese car too, but most of the parts for them are available at our service centre,” Janelidze said.
After increased demand ISI Auto is planning to expand their business. As some Chinese cars are in Western Georgia, they plan to open a new office and service centre in Batumi. Soon they’ll start renting out cars. “Cars will cost 10 USD less than the same type of cars of other brands,” Janelidze claims.
ISI Auto is an official importer of Roewe and MG in Azerbaijan and Armenia as well. Azerbaijan has the biggest market out of these three countries.
“50-100 cars are sold in Azerbaijan monthly,” Kharati said. “Most of the big companies buy Chinese cars for their employees and corporation needs. If we compare individual clients, Azerbaijan and Georgia are on the same level. Armenia has the smallest market.”
“Chinese cars will soon lead the world car market,” Kharati believes.
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