Sinotruk NZ is on a mission to tackle the competition in the heavy vehicle market and it’s only just got started.
Beginning in 2018 as part of Hamilton-based Modern Transport Engineers (MTE), the business took on the sole importer and distribution rights for the Chinese truck brand in New Zealand.
It adds another string to the bow of MTE as the country’s largest builder and supplier of specialised transport trailers.
The group also has an equipment hire and parts warehouse division.
MTE founder and director Robin Ratcliffe says the Sinotruk deal presented itself through a customer who had ordered a number of trailers to be built.
Negotiations started taking place in 2017 and the distribution rights were secured with the first order of 160 trucks.
“They already knew who we were and had done their homework, they knew how big we were,” Ratcliffe says
Taking on the brand makes a lot of business sense and it’s well set up for future growth, he says.
“All the other major franchises were taken and we know the Chinese are going to be next major player in world market for trucks.”
The units have been steadily hitting the road with the help of business development manager Robbie Pasley, who brings experience to the table in brand and product development as one of the pioneers of the FH Volvo Brand in NZ as an operator (purchasing over 200 units).
Also on the team is general manager Martin Parrish, sales rep Lance Farrow and service manager Paul Burns.
In 2018, there were 37 Sinotruks sold and the company is now on track to sell more than 100 by the end of 2019.
It operates its service and dealer base out of Hamilton but is focused on the entire New Zealand market.
It offers a wide range of cab chassis variations in applications such as logging, metro, long-haul and tippers.
A fleet of Sinotruks owned by MTE’s vehicle and machinery lease division is being used on the Transmission Gully motorway project.
They feature ejector trailers which push out loads using hydraulics and are used where conventional tipping trailers may have issues with stability while unloading, such as on landfill sites.
The company is now in the process of securing a second shipment of trucks as the brand starts making a foothold throughout the country.
The aim is to import up to 20 trucks per month.
“We want to stabilise Sinotruk as a reputable brand in the market and our main game at the moment is to show the people that the Chinese have got a good truck and to solidly entrench that into the New Zealand market,” Ratcliffe says.
The brand first entered the New Zealand market in 2013 as a joint venture with MAN Trucks.
Globally, the Sinotruk brand formed its partnership with German-owned MAN Group in 2009.
According to its website, MAN acquired a 25% stake in the company and introduced its technology into the brand including engines and axles.
Sinotruk is part of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, a state-owned manufacture based in Jinan, Shandong province.
It is one of the top three largest truck manufactures in China and is known for developing and manufacturing the country’s first heavy duty vehicle.
Pasley says the trucks have been selling well in the local construction sector and he is talking to some “major customers” who are very interested in the brand.
Although it is still early days in New Zealand, the brand has proven itself overseas so it’s just a matter of time before more customers are on board, he says.
Sino Trucks NZ is also shaking up the truck sales market by offering a turnkey solution as the importer, distributor and dealer and also offering trailer builds and equipment along with it, he says.
It’s “not dictating” on service or part requirements, giving customers the choice while still offering the standard three year/300,000km factory warranty.
The trucks are compatible with aftermarket parts from Wabco and ZF and new on-board management technology offers easy to follow service codes from any modern workshop.
This results in big savings with capital costs around $100,000 cheaper than some of the other big brands on the market.
Pasley says he’s now on a mission to get people familiar with the brand and it helps that MTE has been in business for nearly 50 years.
“We’re working on assisting some major fleets to return some of the profits to the owners and the operators,” he says.
Meanwhile, Ratcliffe is not ruling out expansion of Sinotruk distribution in the future but at this stage the focus is clearly on supplying the market with “a very good product”.
The company offers servicing throughout the country but it’s still “early days” so there is no need for a dealership network just yet.
Ratcliffe founded MTE in 1973 at the age 24 and has now grown the company to around 350 staff over its seven globally operating business units.
He is supported by his wife Colleen, and his sons Michael and Zane and several grandchildren, who all work in the business.
In 2011, MTE set a record for the largest trailer ever produced in New Zealand for heavy haulage firm Multi Trans.
The 45-metre long trailer featured 304 tyres across 19 axles and had a tare weight of 140 tonnes.
It was used to transport a 650-tonne gas platform module, valued at $35 million, from Fitzroy Engineering to Port Taranaki.
Ratcliffe says he always had an interest in science and engineering and that helped him get to where he is today.
He distinguished himself from the average trailer builder at the time by taking on more detailed projects like bitumen tankers.
“I had a good engineering background and could work most things out so nothing was really going to stop me.”
Working in the transport sector is still what he loves doing and now at age 71 he has no plans of hanging up the boots just yet.
“Retirement is doing what you want to do.
I don’t do anything I don’t enjoy doing.
What I’m doing is a reason to get up every day,” he says.
