Zahid Tractor has revealed that it will open six new branches in Saudi Arabia before the end of 2015.
Caterpillar’s authorised KSA distributor revealed plans to open at least two facilities in each of its three sales regions this year.
The branches will include both micro-depots, offering servicing and spare parts, and convenience stores, which carry spare parts only.
“We’re planning to open at least two facilities within each region this year, a mixture of both micro-depots and convenience stores,” explained Khalid El Shurafa, the dealer’s marketing manager.
“Although the Kingdom has five political regions, Zahid Tractor splits Saudi Arabia into three: the Western, Central, and Eastern regions. We’re targeting an additional two stores in of these regions this year, so we should have an extra six before the end of 2015,” he added.
The expansion plan forms part of Zahid Tractor’s broader ‘three-tier facility coverage’ model. During recent years, the company has introduced two new types of facility to supplement its traditional, first-tier sales, service, and spare parts hubs.
“A couple of years ago, we introduced the second tier of facilities, which we call micro-depots,” said El Shurafa.
“These provide both sales and parts. Earlier in 2015, we introduced our third tier: the convenience store concept. This is a much smaller type of branch that only offers spare parts.
“We implemented this system because the Kingdom’s cities are growing so rapidly. We wanted to provide more convenient access to our customers. If we hadn’t have adopted this strategy, depending on traffic and the size of the city in question, it might have taken customers an hour or two to travel to our branch, just to collect some spare parts.
“This is why the convenience store concept is proving such a huge success,” he concluded.
For further details from El Shurafa’s interview, and additional perspectives from Caterpillar and Al-Bahar, check out the April 2015 issue of PMV Middle East.
