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As Geely's Boat Takes on Water, Where is the Captain



This Channel's been around for a few years and we've built relations with almost every brand operating in the Philippines with the exception of a few. One of those exceptions is Geely. We don't know a single person currently working at Sojitz, Geely’s distributor, as they didn't engage with "new media" car reviewers until just very recently. For an upstart that could use as much exposure as it could get, it’s a curious decision.

Problems arise in every brand, even those considered to be the most reliable. The difference is in the People behind the brand and what they do when the pressure mounts up.

Ford gets a lot of flak for what people say are reliability issues but Ford Philippines is very quick when it comes to addressing them before they get bigger. They have teams that monitor social media posts and facebook groups for complaints and reply to them very quickly. Problems will inevitably arise but they try to nip it at the bud as much as possible.

The issue with Geely is not true of all Chinese brands

Chery is one of the first brands that I worked with. Parts availability is not as big of an issue as it is with Geely as they have a dedicated warehouse for parts. From talking to Chery vehicle owners and monitoring Chery groups, they mostly seem to be happy with the aftersales service so far. UAAGI is the distributor behind Chery and Foton  and they have the funds and the manpower to make things right when they go wrong as things did with Geely. 

GAC has a very competent team behind it composed of veterans in the industry and they're distributed by Astara, a global automotive powerhouse, also with the funds to fix things when they go awry

Jetour is one of the newest brands in the Philippines but I've met the people behind the brand, I've seen their roadmap, I've even met the people from Jetour Global and this is a brand that I have no problem recommending.

These are brands that I have no problems recommending as I've met the people at the helm. Sojitz on the other hand are in their own little bubble which seems to get smaller and smaller as this issue gets bigger and bigger. We don't know anyone from Geely, but what we hear about in media circles are  budget cuts and cancelled events. 

In a way, we also put our names at stake with our reviews and we’d like to know the captain and crew of the ship so when they take on water, we know that the captain won't abandon ship and leave us with nothing but our life vests. That's especially true for these newer Chinese brands.

The fact that as of now there is still no official statement from Geely is troubling. There’s no one at the helm capable of doing any sort of damage control. It makes you question if they have a PR team at all.

While we’re not seeing anyone from Sojitz standing up for their brand in an official capacity, We’re seeing a lot of Geely owners defending the brand. It’s a reminder that Geely does have very good products that people love despite their poor aftersales. What's needed is an adjustment in the balance between profitability and customer experience

...Also a good social media manager





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