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Ateco to jump-start Foton
SUVs to join commercial vehicle range in Australia?Ateco Automotive is busily preparing to relaunch the Foton brand in Australia.
The distributor only recently acquired the rights to import and market the Chinese-built range of light commercials from FAA, but Ateco has held the distribution rights for the Foton heavy truck range since late 2012.
With both light and heavy commercials under the one roof now, Ateco has turned its sights on importing other Foton models for the Australian market. Before that however, the company is undertaking some important housekeeping – not least of all clearing up some ADR (Australian Design Rules) non-compliance issues for the Tunland LCV.
The recalls have not forestalled Ateco's plans to relaunch Foton, however, advises Ateco spokesman Daniel Cotterill. All models – both the Tunland and the new products – will be compliant with ADRs, as they should have been prior to Ateco taking on the distribution of the brand in Australia.
"Obviously all the new Fotons we'll commence with shortly will be compliant and up to spec..." Cotterill said. The Ateco exec wouldn't reveal what new Foton models are planned for the local market, but the company also builds SUVs and people mover/vans in China.
"What we'll be doing is effectively relaunching the brand in Australia – quite soon," Cotterill said. "Without saying too much, it will be a relatively simple start, and then we'll work along with Foton as we're able to expand our model range.
According to Cotterill, plans for the relaunch are "quite well advanced" and it's "just really a matter of getting sign-off from various people..."
Ateco has a long history of trading brands – and often building up sales of an underachieving brand before relinquishing it to the factory or another distributor. This was true of Kia and Citroen. But equally too, brands like Fiat and Alfa Romeo have moved on to bigger and better sales after leaving Ateco.
Foton is set to flourish under the Ateco umbrella, but it has already been a challenging road to integrate the Chinese brand into a properly structured dealer network.
"There's a lot to this," Cotterill explained to motoring.com.au. "We've done it with both elements of Foton. Obviously we had the light truck business – you inherit a number of customers' vehicles already in the field. And in the case of the Foton [heavy] trucks, all of a sudden these people had no dealers.
"None of the previous Foton truck dealers came across [with the shift of distribution to Ateco], so that was a customer relations issue for a while, because we had responsibility for them immediately, but no real infrastructure in place to help them.
"But we got it done, we have dealers who are quite good friends all over the country – so one way or another we made that work."
In contrast with the heavy commercial vehicle side of the business, the Tunland was less of a concern.
"This is somewhat tidier in the Foton ute area," Cotterill admitted. "Almost all of those dealers are coming across and will be part of our new network."
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Written byKen Gratton
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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