Cloyes today announced it has opened a third-party logistics (3PL) distribution center in the Songjiang District of Shanghai to provide enhanced service to its customers and the growing automotive aftermarket industry in China.
Partnering with a leading global logistics service provider, Cloyes initially opened the 3PL distribution center in December 2019 but activity was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 7,800-square-meter distribution center is now operational and providing local supply to Cloyes customers.
“With a well-developed transportation infrastructure and experienced management team, the 3PL will vastly improve the delivery of Cloyes products in the Chinese market,” said Andrew Ge, general manager of Cloyes in China. “Our local supply enables new sales growth in China while reducing potentially long delivery lead times to our customers.”
By opening the distribution center, Cloyes says it has reduced its delivery time to Chinese customers from a one-and-a-half-month delivery time from its United States and Mexico distribution centers to one-week delivery time from the Cloyes 3PL in China. The distribution center can accurately deliver 100,000 pieces to the Cloyes customer base, according to the company.
“With the drive to make our customers more successful in the automotive aftermarket, we must provide high-quality kits and components, intelligence regarding application coverage, education and training to enable efficient repairs, and most importantly, the right products that we can deliver at the right time to our customers,” said John Bohenick, CEO of Cloyes. “Our customers in China continue to demand high-quality kits and components that make the repairs completed correctly and customers have the confidence that the repair will work for a long time.”
With the second most vehicles of all nations, China’s automotive aftermarket is expected to climb to $200 billion by 2023. Although the average age of vehicles in China is still only five years old, the average age will continue to increase along with the need for more complex parts and repairs.
“China is on the verge of becoming the world’s largest automotive aftermarket market and brands with training and service advantages will certainly perform better than those with long lead times and lack of product information,” said Brian Wheeler, vice president of business development and marketing. “We know that local Chinese brands, as well as other international brands, will continue working to gain market share. As North America’s leader in timing drive systems, we will continue to develop products to support this growing market.”
