Powerful LiuGong Dealer Network Drives European Success

Transitioning from a factory in the southwest region of China into a leading manufacturer of construction machinery, LiuGong now has 15 global product lines and a rapidly growing network of more than 374 dealers across six continents in over 136 countries. Its dealer network provides over 2,650 LiuGong sales outlets around the world.

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The European market is particularly difficult for construction manufacturers to enter due to the region’s strict emission standards, noise regulations, and other operator protection requirements. In the heavy equipment industry, only products that combine outstanding design, quality and service with environmentally friendly technology can succeed in the European market. Numerous Chinese brands have tried to enter the market, but few have succeeded in establishing a firm foothold over the past few decades – LiuGong has become a rare exception to the trend.

The company’s history with Europe can be traced back to 2010 when it set up its subsidiary in the Netherlands. After two years, LiuGong won customers’ approval through its proven products and excellent service. But amongst all these efforts, the most influential factor in finally opening the European market was LiuGong’s strong dealer network.

LiuGong appointed Construction Plant & Machinery Sales (CPMS) as its dealer in Portsmouth, England, in May of 2013. The partnership has proven hugely successful, with CPMS having sold hundreds of LiuGong machines to date. CPMS, which used to sell Komatsu machines, is very strict and conservative in choosing a construction machinery OEM partner because they protect their reputation carefully. However, LiuGong machines surprised CPMS with impressive reliability and superior performance, and thus the relationship was established.

“So far, we have seen lots of operators’ smiling faces and we found that LiuGong machines meet the requirements of the customers. We look forward to continuing our work with this brand,” said Brian Prescott from CPMS.

Lee Smith, Project Manager for one of the UK’s biggest demolition projects, is just one example of a customer utilizing this successful dealer network. The project in Derby, England, is using 12 LiuGong excavators, ranging from 6 ton to 36 ton, as well as two wheel loaders.

“The dealer (CPMS) we’re using offers great service and backup. It provides the parts for us whenever we need them, which keeps our productivity at a maximum,” said Smith,

“We chose LiuGong machines because of the reliability, overall presentation of the machine, ergonomic design, low service schedules, easy maintenance, and the backup from the dealership in the UK with regards to servicing and the turnaround of the parts,” continued Smith. “The dealer relationship played a huge part in us choosing LiuGong Machinery.”

During a recent tour of a number of UK sites where LiuGong machines are hard at work, Mr. Yu Chuanfen, President of LiuGong Machinery, said, “We did a lot of preparation work before entering the UK market in terms of adapting our products to the local customers’ needs, setting up service and support, and spare parts systems. Our main goal is to provide efficient and reliable products with excellent back up in conjunction with our dealer partners. The rapid increase of LiuGong sales and the fantastic feedback from the UK customers signify that LiuGong’s strategy was spot-on for this market.”

The same business synergy has been formed with GEO Trading AD, established in 1997 in Bulgaria. After 16 years of development, it employs 230 members of staff and has become one of the biggest trading companies in Bulgaria. GEO Trading AD has cooperated with LiuGong since September, 2013, after an initial three months of trialing the relationship. It became a LiuGong dealer officially in 2014 and has been successfully distributing LiuGong products into the Bulgarian market. “LiuGong has surpassed our expectations in many ways and we look forward to a bright future as a result of this cooperation,” stated Mr. Veselin Donchevfrom, Sales Director of GEO Trading AD.

LiuGong has gained customers’ trust through its full-line products, reliable quality and the dealers’ continuous efforts. GEO Trading AD has built two sales outlets in Sofia and Varia respectively for LiuGong, and will build one more in Bulgaria’s southern region so as to cover the whole country. Additionally, GEO Trading AD has invested heavily in LiuGong’s business, including support vehicles, a 700m³ spare parts warehouse and a 300m³ workshop for service. A new 3000m³ LiuGong4S shop was built and opened in December 2014, dedicated especially to LiuGong machinery.

LiuGong products are constantly sold for use in large European projects, as demonstrated in Bulgaria with the EU internal highway – the country’s only road project in 2014 – and the Sofia metro project, which has become the only metro that connects Sofia’s downtown, airport and national reservoir. As a result of the success in these projects, LiuGong’s sales volume in Bulgaria has improved dramatically over the past 12 months.

As a global leader in the industry, establishing a high-quality dealer network is central to LiuGong’s success in Europe. “We never enter a market without first ensuring we have a regional dealer, in order to guarantee our customers reliable local service and support, wherever they are in the world,” said Zeng Guang’an, Chairman of LiuGong.