WESTERN Australia and New Zealand are in line to gain MG Motor dealerships by sometime in 2019, as SAIC Motor continues to expand its representation in this region.

These plans follow on from the recent opening of four dealerships in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria with the latter to also include a site in Werribee in Melbourne’s west, covering that city’s key metro area.

This will take the total number of MG Motor outlets across the Australian mainland eastern seaboard to 10.

Speaking to GoAutoNews Premium at the media unveiling of the MG ZS small SUV in Sydney last week, SAIC Motor Australia’s marketing and communications senior manager Danny Lenartic revealed that the process of selecting dealers nationally would continue to take time in order for the right representation to be selected.

“We have the eastern seaboard now so, thankfully, we have four additional dealerships now taking us to 10 nationally, covering Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland,” he said.

“And we are definitely not going to stop there. Dealership expansion is probably the number one priority and without them we can’t do business effectively.

“But we’ve been here only a year… and having 10 dealers in 13 months (starting from none) is an achievement. We want to have the right dealers with the right business models, and that’s really important.

“We want to include New Zealand in that as well. We’re not just stopping at these (eastern seaboard) borders. We’re definitely crossing the ditch and we’re having communications with the people over there as we speak.

“The ambition is to be in Western Australia… anywhere where there are dealers with the right mindset and right partnership. There are no boundaries to that.”

SAIC Motor, the largest listed company on China’s bourse, is gung-ho about building its business nationally on service and trust and MG Motor is backing up its dealer network expansion by moving to a seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty with roadside assistance with its latest SUVs.

The older MG3 and MG6 passenger cars stay at the six-year package.

In a written media statement, MG Motor Australia general manager Peter Cao said that the Chinese-owned British brand’s growth plans were on track.

“MG is motoring ahead in Australia, and we are proud to have established 10 dealerships for MG in its first year of operation,” he said.

“Our new dealer partners have been carefully selected by our dealer development team, ensuring a quality purchasing experience and excellent customer service.”

By Byron Mathioudakis