Automotive News Canada - January 2018 - 4

* J A N U A R Y 2 018

Speaking the same language
What do Chinese customers want?
The same things as any customer:
To be treated honestly and fairly,
and to have their needs understood

By STEVE MERTL

VA N C O U V E R C O R R E S P O N D E N T

VANCOUVER - CANADA'S WEST
Coast metropolis, long a prime destination for Chinese immigrants, is
attracting new wave of prosperous
transplants who spend freely, but want
exemplary service from dealers.
The latest immigrant wave is probably the most prosperous, adding a
group that's "likely to be conspicuous consumers," according to one analyst. Most do not fit the stereotype of
cash-rich entrepreneurs, but they and
other Chinese Canadians constitute an
important automotive market.
Meeting their needs requires more
than patronizing tokenism. Dealers
have to deliver on service and the quality of the deal, says Justin Gebara, general manager of Columbia ChryslerDodge-Jeep. The store is in suburban
Richmond, where about half the 200,000
residents are of Chinese origin. Many
arrived in the last two decades.
Yes, Columbia marks Chinese New
Year, and Gebara ensures he has local
Mandarin and Cantonese speakers on
staff. But Chinese customers are looking for great service, honest dealing
and the best price possible, just like
any other buyer, he said.
"You're looking for someone who's
courteous, very respectful, someone
who's willing to give them great service, make them feel like a million
bucks whether they've got it or not,"
said Gebara. "That's what it comes
down to."
Experts say it pays to be knowledgeable about ethnic consumers' buying
habits. Chinese are among the largest of those potential markets, said
Bernice Cheung, vice-president of
cultural markets and financial services at Environics Research Group.
Chinese immigrants have been coming to Vancouver for a century and a
half, with census data showing almost

500,000 ethnic Chinese among the
area's 2.5 million residents
"The importance of Chinese
consumers cannot be neglected by
car manufacturers
or dealers, as they
represent a highly
lucrative prospect
for acquisition,"
Cheung wrote in an Bernice Cheung
email.
of Environics
DIFFERENT TASTES Research
Group says
More recent
long-tenured
arrivals from main- immigrants
land China typical- tend to adopt
ly have different
Canadians'
expectations from
practical criteria
those who came
for auto purfrom Hong Kong
chases.
in the '90s or more
deeply rooted Chinese Canadians, she
said: "While there are cultural similarities, the fact is that recent immigrants
are more likely to be conspicuous consumers than longer tenured immigrants."
Purchasing goods such as luxury
automobiles indicate social status and
economic power, Cheung explained.
"With more tenured immigrants,
the adoption to Canadian values of
practicality [and] functionality are typically more prominent, hence though
a luxury car still has appeal, it's not as
essential for a tenured Chinese," she
said.
For well-heeled immigrants, price
might not drive the buying decision,

Justin Gebara, general manager of Columbia
Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep near Vancouver, said
Chinese buyers appreciate service, respect
and a good price, as well as sales staff who
speak their language. ( P H O T O : S T E V E M E R T L )

added Chunhua Wu, assistant professor of marketing and behavioural
science at the University of British
Columbia's Sauder School of Business.
"For them, it's more about the service levels instead of the price promotions or incentives," he said in an
interview.
Recent arrivals gravitate toward
brands they knew in China and, said
Cheung, luxury and brand reputation
are important attributes. Foreign luxury vehicles carry high import duties in
China, making them comparative bargains in Canada.
"Probably they pay half the price
here," Wu said.
"So what they care
about is how soon
they can get it and
what is the process,
the service level
when they shop
around."
Gebara said lanChunhua Wu of guage is rarely a
barrier at his dealthe University
ership, but Wu said
of British
many recent invesColumbia says
tor-class immiword-of-mouth
grants aren't comis important
fortable speaking
among immiEnglish with sales
grants.
people. Cheung
added it's useful to have staff who mirror the market's demographic, including language, cultural background and
shared experiences.

THE PERILS OF DECEPTION
The popularity of German luxury
brands among wealthier arrivals to
Vancouver also has a downside, Wu
said. Strong demand coupled with limited availability might prompt sales
people to lie so a customer won't shop
around.
"If they don't have the inventory,
they tell you that there's nothing in
Vancouver and you need to wait for
two months, which turns out not to be
true," said Wu, himself a recent car
shopper.
That kind of manipulation creates
bad word-of-mouth, he said.
"People rely on personal relationships to make big purchases in China,"
said Wu. "When they emigrate to
Canada, they try to find someone who
is trustworthy."
Cheung said immigrants also tend
to be more tech-savvy than "mainstream" consumers,
using the web and
mobile apps to stay
in touch with people
back home.
Many dealers
use social media to
reach out to potential customers, but Wu said public platforms such as Twitter and Facebook
are not as popular among Chinese.
They prefer WeChat, a Chinesedeveloped messaging app that has
nearly one billion users in the country
and abroad. A sales person who wants
to stay in touch with potential customers should notify them they have a
WeChat account, he said.
"Chinese prefer close ties or more
individualized relationships." Wu
said. "That's why the WeChat channel
becomes very important." - ANC

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