Maxus @ The 30th Thailand International Motor Expo - Next target, UK

A short article but finishing with good news:

SAIC Maxus brand into the Thai market

Shanghai Automotive Group Co., Ltd. overseas strategy further.

Post reporter learned from SAIC, recently, SAIC Group and one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand Chia Tai Group has signed a joint venture of the draft, the two sides formed a joint venture company in Thailand SAIC Maxus independent commercial vehicle brands entered the Thai market.

SAIC Maxus official said, "the joint venture will be pre-landing vehicle exports modes Thai market, and the subsequent formation of scale in the near CKD expand cooperation in all aspects of manufacturing and modified van business."

In December last year, SAIC has officially signed with the Chia Tai Group of Thailand's largest enterprise, the two sides plan to establish a joint venture in Thailand, the ASEAN market-oriented production and sale of SAIC MG series.

SAIC Maxus stakeholders yesterday told the Post reporter, current, SAIC Maxus products have been around the world 17 countries and regions, into Australia, Southeast Asia and other countries.  The next target selected for Shanghai Maxus will be the British market.

It is reported that 27 November to 11 December, SAIC MAXUS Maxus will debut on the Thailand Industrial Fair, the official visit to Thailand later this year to warm up.

Source: http://market.brandcn.com/shichangyingxiao/131206_363135.html

As Thai production is to be CKD assembly, you might think it was as easy to do that for the UK at Longbridge - presumably you can transport more bits of van in the same container...

The same Maxus or the new model they've launched?

Does the current version of the original LDV van still have the same drivetrain? I wonder if it'll be relaunched as LDV here - makes sense.

Morris Motors wrote:The same Maxus or the new model they've launched?

Does the current version of the original LDV van still have the same drivetrain? I wonder if it'll be relaunched as LDV here - makes sense.

I think there is a case to sell both in Europe.

The V80 sort of still has the same drivetrain but the engines are actually made in Shanghai by a SAIC joint venture company.
The G10 will have the new SAIC 2.0T engine, in China it has the option of lower powered Mitsubishi engines but I imagine the option for Europe will be the MG6 diesel engine for those that don't need a sub 7 second 0-60 time.

I hope it will be branded Maxus, would the UK sales benefit from a Leyland connection?

I think that LDV branding is still readily apparent on many service sites in the UK, and the vans still trundle about the streets wearing the badge. I always find it frustrating when they change a name for no real reason. Sticking with LDV may overcome some resistance to some 'funny foreign import'. Mind you, commercial vehicle sales never seem to be put off by these things.

Of course, when LDV folded, it was sold to/via China Ventures Ltd which is a firm run by a female 'associate' (ahem) of one of the Phoenix Four. One bit of IPR that DIDN'T transfer in the deal was the name 'Morris Commercial' which had been owned by LDV and which is currently registered to China Ventures and not to SAIC.

Wouldn't it be nice if SAIC got their act together and had a global strategy - 'Morris Garages' is used abroad to sell MGs and there's no reason why they can't do that here too. Then 'Morris Commercial' could be used on the vans. And if they wanted a more 'mainstream' brand to be able to introduce Roewes to a wider audience and avoid the 'dilution' of MG (as per the MG 350/550/750 etc), then can I suggest MORRIS?

 

'Morris Commercial' seems far more sensible as a company name for selling Maxus brand vans than LDV, DAF has nothing to do with the current operation and Leyland is hard to justify but Morris Commercial means they can associate with and use some of the reputation of MG. Also makes some sense historically.

Maybe they left the name behind intentionally.

Well both 'Leyland' and 'DAF' are owned by Paccar so 'LDV' actually means nothing (it was once a genuine abbreviation of 'Leyland DAF Vans' but after the buyout it became the name of the firm itself. It's rather like 'MG' in that respect; it officially means nothing.

As for why Morris Commercial was left behind, I can't understand it. China Ventures doesn't own any other TMs. Why would they want to keep it? Why would SAIC pick through all the assets being sold and throw that one back? It can't have had any monetary value. Most odd.

As an aside, I am always struck by the proximity of Studley Castle, the former MG Rover training centre, to the registered office of China Ventures. 3 miles. Funny that.. 

Can someone explain what all of this means in laymans terms please, Im a bit lost.

Are they gonna be Maxus vans or what?!

Also, does this deal in Thailand put MG assembly at Longbridge in jeopardy, or is that a completely different thing?

SAIC sell what was originally the LDV Maxus as simply 'Maxus' in China and other territories, and as 'LDV Maxus' in some other ones due to Trade Mark issues. So we're speculating. 'Maxus' is the preferred name by SAIC I suppose, otherwise the van would have been an LDV in China from the start.

I think the Aussie dealers also wanted LDV used as it was a recognised brand there, not sure it was really the trademark issue that caused it's use.

I think China Ventures set up Eco Concepts as the importer of Maxus vans to UK, maybe intending to rename it "Morris Commercials" for launch or have a subsidiary called "Morris Commercials", that would explain them hanging on to the TM and the reason they have the LDV.uk website using SAIC's Maxus trademark. I guess that SAIC has part ownership of Eco Concepts or some arrangement of the sort.

"Are they gonna be Maxus vans or what?!"

Yes they will be Maxus vans, the question is what the company will be called, Maxus (Datong) as in China, LDV as in Oz or something else, the company will sell Maxus vans whatever it is called.

"Also, does this deal in Thailand put MG assembly at Longbridge in jeopardy, or is that a completely different thing?"
No, Thailand is building right hand drive vehicles for the eastern hemisphere only, China makes left hand drive vehicles and the UK makes right hand drive vehicles for the western hemisphere (apparently including Africa) and will probably make left hand drive vehicles for EU countries.

They are looking at setting up other factories too, there have been rumours of Brazil and Ukraine within the last year but those are far from certain.

Morris Motors wrote:As an aside, I am always struck by the proximity of Studley Castle, the former MG Rover training centre, to the registered office of China Ventures. 3 miles. Funny that.. 

I think it is on either Studley Castle land or ex-Studley Castle land isn't it - the home farm for the castle? I assume the arrangement came about when MGR originally started negotiating with Nanjing, long before Nanjing Auto Corp. got SAIC involved as China Ventures owner, although UK educated and a British citizen is related to NAC management - I think.

The website is a bit flaky looking, and I don't know when the Eco Concepts thing was last updated.

Is SAIC still willing to work with China Ventures? CV is very small; I'm sure SAIC won't need them.

Morris Motors wrote:The website is a bit flaky looking, and I don't know when the Eco Concepts thing was last updated.

Is SAIC still willing to work with China Ventures? CV is very small; I'm sure SAIC won't need them.

If SAIC wanted to buy another UK company then I'm sure that they would consider employing CVL again to sort it all out. CVL wont be running Maxus UK though, that will be a new company with new staff, possibly CVL will sort the initial set up, company registration, finding key staff etc.

The people in China don't know how things work in the UK so need someone who does and who can also translate the complex negotiations, legal stuff etc. into Chinese and back and be trusted to sort it out rather than make a mess - that is what CVL does.

Surely now they have a base in Longbridge, any new products or services would just go through there? They have enough experience negotiating dealerships etc with MG now so the UK operation could handle anything new.

Morris Motors wrote:Surely now they have a base in Longbridge, any new products or services would just go through there? They have enough experience negotiating dealerships etc with MG now so the UK operation could handle anything new.

Can you imagine just how overworked the existing team would be if they were handling Maxus as well without a substantial increase of headcount?

Well I don't wish to sound like I'm moaning, but they're only just selling into double figures, I'm sure the admin team must have some spare time.

Morris Motors wrote:Well I don't wish to sound like I'm moaning, but they're only just selling into double figures, I'm sure the admin team must have some spare time.

er you sound like you're moaning lol.

We can all imagine the name of someone at Birmingham who has more than one hat. As we know, sales are not far off hitting three figures a month but that is still nothing like as much as it should be - the present setup needs to be scalable to sell at least ten (twenty plus) times as many, and more, and it's not like we know anyone who is having an "easy life".

Consider how many people a brand head office has, and how many of them need to be devoted solely to one brand or range (Ford, Mercedes, Renault, VW commercials). SAIC need to invest in a sprat to catch a mackerel.

Well it should be easy for them - they've got Guy Jones after all, LDV is bread and butter to him.

I saw two battered Maxuses today, still doing Royal Mail collections in Manchester. In fact, the depot near my old house has a Pilot minibus.