VDI Australia’s emerging presence all over Australia is paying dividends. The distributor of Yutong buses and coaches is preparing for a major boost in WA with the opening of its bigger and better premises.
After expanding its reputation as the distributor of Yutong Australia buses and coaches on the eastern side of Australia, VDI is now setting its sights on the west coast.
To start off 2023, VDI Australia moved into new premises just outside of Perth to take its operations to the next level in Western Australia.
“The Yutong brand was growing so much in WA that we wanted to improve our support services and parts capabilities,” Yutong Bus Centre WA general manager Mike Kennedy told ABC.
“Last year, Yutong decided to separate from its previous WA dealership and become a stand-alone format.
“It resulted in three months of flat-out work to get this new dealership set up.”
On January 3 this year, the VDI Australia WA team received a late Christmas present when it moved into its new premises at 153 Abernethy Road, Belmont. Just 10 minutes outside of the Perth city centre, the massive 4,300 square metre site has been designed to provide the best of what VDI Australia can offer through its range of Yutong buses and coaches.
Kennedy says the new premises includes 300 square metres of offices partnering 1400 square metres of parts and service workshops, while a further 2,400 square metres of storage area sits outside the main building to house Yutong’s growing number of buses and coaches.
 |
VDI Australia first found the new premises in November last year. At the time, the landlord was completing extensive renovations on the site to fill it with brand new appliances and spaces.
Kennedy says VDI has been extremely fortunate to move into the new building, with its quality and convenience of location making it the ideal home for the distributor in Perth.
“We’re completing the final finishing touches now and it’s looking superb,” Kennedy says.
“It’s central to all of the major highways in and around Perth, meaning it’s easy to access.
RELATED ARTICLE: Yutong YESS system raises electric safety bar
“It was very difficult to find something with the right mix of storage areas for big buses while also having enough room for parts and services equipment. We’re very lucky with what we found.”
Kennedy and his team have been servicing Yutong bus and coach clients from the new Belmont site for nearly three months, completing the jobs that they can do while the site is being finished.
The parts side of the building is about to be fully stocked, while Kennedy has already noticed the difference the dedicated service and parts staff and space is making with Yutong’s WA customers.
When the site officially opens soon, Kennedy expects the local Yutong community to continue loving the move.
“The customer feedback has been very positive so far, saying that the move was a great idea,” Kennedy says.
“We decided to upgrade facilities because we know the Yutong product is really good and the sales side has been going well. We know the customers have faith in the Yutong product, but we wanted to improve our aftersales support.
“It’s not just about selling the bus up front. We want to be able to turn around and ensure the bus stays on the road so that our clients can get maximum return on their investment and increase their confidence in the Yutong brand.”
Although VDI Australia’s latest branch is very far away from its other Australian sites, Kennedy says the Perth site will be modelled on its counterparts in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.
The key difference will be its product range. Inside the expansive spaces of the Perth site will be a lot more mining-based buses that VDI Australia will complete the vehicle preparation and build-ups of.
With a large involvement in WA’s mining and school bus sectors, VDI Australia will bring the production of these Yutong vehicles in-house to ensure they’re built right and to potentially speed up the process by not having to rely on external suppliers.
“In WA, 85 per cent of our market is predominantly the new D7 and D12 models as they fit so well into our market here,” Kennedy says.
“We’ve also had massive interest recently in the past six to 12 months for Yutong’s full electric range.
“We’re in deep discussions with big players in the state to fulfil rather large order quantities for these buses and coaches.”
 |
The new site is set to boost this growing demand for Yutong technology in WA. Kennedy says an important part of selecting new premises was having more space available in the workshop and outside the main building to hold more vehicles than ever before.
The Belmont site has also been set up ready for electric vehicle charging to accommodate Yutong’s popular battery electric buses and coaches.
“We also wanted extra space so we could begin growing our electric side of operations in WA over time,” Kennedy says.
While Kennedy and his team wait for a fully electric bus to arrive in Perth before they can officially open the site in the second quarter of this year, they’re focusing on finetuning their workshop and parts department processes.
Kennedy is very excited about VDI Australia’s new WA home being close to 100 per cent ready.
It’s certainly a whirlwind time for him and his team. Once the exciting site is officially opened and operating in WA, Kennedy has already been assured by clients that it will help catapult VDI Australia’s business in the local bus and coach market.
“The customer feedback has been massive since we first announced the new WA site,” Kennedy says.
“What’s been even more incredible is the positivity we’ve had from existing and new clients who have seen the facility already.
“They’ve seen the premises in its infancy when it was only a bare shell of a building and clients knew we were doing the right thing. It’ll be an amazing moment to officially open the building to our WA community.”