DESPITE ongoing success of the D-Max ute and the debut of a new-generation MU-X large SUV that is expected help propel Isuzu Ute Australia (IUA) toward 40,000 annual unit sales, the company is not in a hurry to expand its network of 162 dealers and service centres.

Neither is IUA resting on its customer satisfaction laurels – this year it picked up its second ‘Best of the Best’ award in the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards and regularly ranks highly or first in similar surveys – as it moves to focus on quality rather than quantity when it comes to its market representation.

During a Q&A session at the recent MU-X media launch, IUA general manager of sales Ben Jaeger told GoAutoNews Premium that “some key open points” for potential network expansion had been identified, some of which are in Sydney and Melbourne.

“We’ve been very open with our dealer network about those open points and given them every opportunity to apply to represent us in those areas,” he said.

“But we’re only really talking about minimal expansion; we’ve actually got a really good coverage of dealers across the country (including) representation in some remote areas. Having said that, we’re always going to reserve the right to continue to look if there is a need for further expansion.”

Mr Jaeger added that the company is also treading carefully as supply bottlenecks and stock shortages could threaten to leave any new outlets they might appoint without vehicles to sell, or spread existing availability too thinly for the whole network to operate profitably.

“Considering the current situation with stock, we want to make sure we fill some of those key locations, those strategic locations for us, at the appropriate time,” he said.

“We have only two models in our range, we obviously want convenience for our customers, but we also need to balance (additional outlets) because we also need a profitable dealer network to be able to continue to offer our product to the market.”

IUA managing director Hiroyasu Sato added that the company was now looking to further improve the quality of its existing dealerships as a priority over expansion.

“We’ve been in this market – compared to competitors – for only 13 years and we are at the stage where we would like to focus on the quality of the network, instead of expanding and increasing the number of outlets,” he said.

Although current success of the D-Max and sales expectations of the new MU-X would have the brand nudging 40,000 annual sales and a place in Australia’s top 10, Mr Jaeger did not think IUA needed “to be in the same volume of dealers as some of those other brands”.

By Haitham Razagui