Jetour scaling for SA service needs
The Chinese brand’ s growth has been amazing, and it’ s preparing to meet maintenance expectations.
For emerging automakers and import brands, sales success can create an unexpected paradox. While sales staff meet targets and earn their commissions, brand equity grows as conquest customers take delivery of vehicles equipped with the latest technology. But as the customer fleet grows, the risk is always that, downstream, the service experience can be overwhelmed by low parts inventory and availability.
When new brands struggle to handle surges in service because their initial sales have been so good, it can create a terrible customer experience. Vehicles feature advanced technology that is widely standardised in the latest Chinese crossover SUVs, and don’ t always use components familiar to the legacy automotive industry. Many parts have form factors and integration needs that are unique to the Chinese automotive supply chain.
Chery sub-brand Jetour has been enormously successful since its launch in South Africa. The two-box design of Jetour’ s T-Series crossover SUVs has been exactly what South African buyers want. And with a specification-to-price ratio that offers much better value than legacy brands, Jetour’ s sales success has been telling. But how is it managing the future risk of all those Jetours in the market as they start maturing into their service and maintenance cycles over the next few years?
Warehousing to meet expectations
“ The ownership experience extends far beyond the initial purchase, and it is often in the months and years that follow that a brand really has the opportunity to demonstrate the capability of its customer service,” says Shaun Steynburg, Head of Marketing at Jetour South Africa.“ While challenges can arise in any vehicle ownership journey, our priority remains responding as quickly and effectively as possible so that the owners continue to enjoy an overwhelmingly positive experience”.
Jetour’ s state-of-the-art parts warehouse in Midrand, Johannesburg, was established to provide ready access to genuine components and help minimise vehicle downtime. The parts warehouse has almost R80 million in parts stock held.
The brand has fulfilled 98.04 % of parts requests so far this year, with the June rate at 97.98 %. When an urgent requirement arises, the brand does not wait for the next scheduled shipment; it backorders and expedites parts as needed to ensure availability. This was recently demonstrated when Jetour brought in 22 back-ordered windscreens by air freight to meet customer demand.
SEPTEMBER 2026 41 WORDS IN ACTION