Interview with Joan Zhu from SINO-AUTOBASE, professional AT, CVT, DCT Parts Supplier from China
What is the year of
foundation of your company?
Mr Kenny Rolt and his companions founded SINO-AUTOBASE INC in Guangzhou in 1996.
Company’s logo
When did your
significant growth begin?
As I said,
several young men established the company that we are working for in the year
of 1996. At first, it was an importer of automatic transmission parts from
Europe/USA. After 2003, there was opened a factory producing various repair kits,
frictions, steel discs, brake bands, O-rings, gaskets, filters, etc. The reason
for this was the increasing demand for huge orders from Chinese local customers
and workshops. Out product trademark is EXACT INTERNATIONAL, AFC – which has become
a well-known brand in China.
After 2006, the company got more involved in used transmission and parts business, with 4 shops opened in Guangzhou, China – supplying used AT,CVT,DCT transmissions in assembly and separate dismantled parts. In 2015, we launched the brand of remanufactured automatic transmission parts named “TRANSBOOM”. Thus, the company start to explore a new market for reconditioned parts.
SINO-AUTOBASE
INC currently has become one of the leading local suppliers of AT, CVT, DCT
parts in China. And we are still growing.
Where do you get your
clients from – expos, social networks, references?
The finest example is various expos, but we also
actively use social networks (Facebook, Instagram). You too can check our
Facebook page. The company also has a micro-store at go4trans.com.
Do you have any
advertising campaigns on Facebook? If yes, how do you organize them? If not,
why?
No, we
mainly use Facebook just as a means of communication for now, to stay tuned
with our existing contacts. We, however, are learning how to do advertising
campaigns on Facebook.
Do you sell to China
or to international buyers? What is the proportion?
SINO-AUTOBASE
INC has got 4 shops opened in Guangzhou, China that are supplying parts to
local customers. We also sell to customers from all over the world.
China
domestic market share: 90% / Overseas market share: 10%
How do you communicate
in multi-language ambient?
I think
language is not a problem for us; we can actually communicate in any language.
Google Translate made our communication so much easier.
You probably had some
obstacles during your company’s growth. What was the biggest, how did you
overcome it?
I think it should be a customer who has not worked with us – so they cannot understand the quality of our products. We will patiently serve every customer, though. We will do our best to build trust in them that will encourage using more of our products.
Do you keep stock of
your products or produce them on demand?
In general,
most of our products will be in stock. We accept bulk orders for a large number
of units.
Valve bodies offered by SAI
Do you produce all of
your products at your facilities or do you cooperate with other companies in
China / Taiwan / other countries?
We have covered this question a bit. I will just sum it up by saying that we are authorized distributors of TRANSTAR, PRECISION, ALLOWMATIC, BORGWARNER, ZF, TRANSTEC, CORTECO, SONNAX, EXEDY, RAYBESTOS, LINESOON.
BW products offered by SAI
What are your target
markets?
We
definitely do not limit ourselves to the national market only and we want to
have a bigger share of international customers so I can say that our target
market will be all over the world!
In the USA they have more than 80% of automatic
transmissions. In Russia, however, it is like 80% for manual gearboxes. What is
this ratio in China?
In China,
it is similar to what they have in the USA – we have more than 80% of automatic
transmissions while approximately 15% are the share of manual gearboxes.
What is the major
criterion for Chinese buyers – quality / price / brand?
They generally
prefer products of local manufacturing – and the quality of our local products
is very high. So I would say that the Chinese buyers try to find the golden
middle in this ‘quality / price / brand’ dilemma.
What is the most
recognized product of your company?
These would
mainly be some internal parts of the gearbox, various kits: repair kits, friction
kits, piston kits, bushing kits, seal kits – also brake bands, filters, gaskets,
and so on.
Who is your biggest
partner in the industry?
We try and
maintain good relations with our Chinese colleagues. Our biggest partner would
be one of local gearbox manufacturers.
