Chinese van-maker Maxus, part of the SAIC conglomerate, has announced a new partnership with the Linders motor group in a move that marks a significant expansion of its presence in Ireland.
Brand expansion
The partnership will see Linders sell a full range of Maxus commercial vehicles through its Linders Van Centre showroom in Chapelizod in Dublin, as well as a full aftersales service in both Chapelizod and the Linders Finglas branch.
According to Mark Barrett, General Manager of Harris Maxus, the company’s distributor in Ireland:
“We are very excited about this new partnership with Linders who already represent impressive brands. We always look for partners with a solid track record in sales, aftersales and customer service and Linders is among the best in the country. Added to the fact they are a family-run Irish business, we see great synergy with the Harris Group. We look forward to seeing more Maxus vans on the road in Ireland and a very successful partnership in the years ahead.”
The Maxus range
The Maxus range in Ireland currently comprises two vans, the Deliver 9 and the eDeliver 3.
The Deliver 9 is available both as a full-sized van and as a chassis cab and is also marketed as the eDeliver 9 electric variant with a 353km range.
The eDeliver 3 is a smaller offering, around the same size as a Nissan NV200, and can manage 344km on a single charge according to figures from the company.
Paul Linders, managing director of the Linders group said of the franchise agreement:
“SAIC and the Chinese market in general are ahead of the industry curve in developing the best technology especially with commercial vehicles. With Linders Van Centre being an enormous part of our business, it seemed the natural next step was to partner with SAIC and Maxus. Meeting the team in the Harris Group solidified this decision for us. We’ve sold a number of vans in our first couple of days with the brand so we are very excited as to where the partnership can go.”
Family ties
In addition to Opel and Citroen franchises, the Linders group sells vehicles from another SAIC brand, MG. Indeed, in some Asian markets, the Maxus V80 van is sold as the MG.
Both MG and Maxus are descendants from another automotive conglomerate, British Leyland — MG more directly through the defunct MG Rover company, though Maxus is related in a more convoluted way through the remnants of Leyland-Daf Vehicles (LDV).