Dutch company Ace Car Wash Systems is currently involved in building no less than eight tunnel car washes in three different cities in China. Two of the first conveyors have just been completed. We called manager Ruby Kamerbeek to ask him how his Chinese is coming along.

“Luckily, there is something like Google Translate now”, Kamerbeek laughs. “Otherwise we would be completely lost.” The manager of the Dutch supplier Ace Car Wash Systems has just returned from China, where he was coordinating a construction project in Guangzhou, a city of more than 18 million inhabitants. The first two Holz washing lines including two interior lanes have now been completed. Six more are underway, we learn. “No one of the technical staff was speaking English, so the work there certainly had his challenges.”

How are cars being washed in China? Are there many tunnel washes?  

“Not really. Cars in China are mainly washed by hand or with gantry car washes. More spacious projects cost a lot of money, mainly because the land in China is very expensive, especially in the big cities.”

Yet, Ace Car Wash Systems is planning to build eight Holz conveyor washes, we understand. 

“Yes, we have indeed sold eight tunnels. Recently we have completed the first two in Guangzhou. Two belts next to each other with two interior lanes attached. In Ürümqi (in the northwest of the country, rp) we will also construct two tunnel car washes. And two more in the city of Korla, which is in the same province.”

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Are those all for different companies? 

“No, they are all for the same owner. His company is called Car61. We have built those two tunnels in Ghangzhou in four weeks time, which is pretty fast. We haven’t managed anything like that before. The construction took place together with a Chinese technical department, which we were training at the same time. The idea being, that they will build the next sites themselves, including piping and everything. We just go there to commission it. Of course we will be supervising the construction. If they run into any issues, we will take it from there.”

How do you get an assignement like this? 

“This owner already operates a car wash of another brand in the northwest of China. He’s had quite a few issues with that. At a German trade fair, they got in touch with Holz. Since we do their foreign distribution, he eventually turned to us. A three-year process followed, during which he made a plan and visited the Netherlands no less than five times. together with his team, we have visited a number of car washes just to show how everything functions.”

Is the way of doing business in China very different, compared to Europe? 

“It is completely different from here (in the Netherlands). Apart from that, our customer initially had no knowledge of the car wash industry, which is why he came over many times. He sat down with all the distributors. All of them. Eventually he came to us. Anyway, if you want to have eight branches set up, you want to be well prepared.

The communication and business went pretty well. Six months ago we went there to sign, and then you’re sitting at the table with a complete Chinese delegation. Anyway, they are all experienced businessmen. The company became big with game arcades. Throughout China they have lots of branches. Now they want to move into car washing.”

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App

Since gambling is officially forbidden in China, people are using an app with credits to play at these arcades. With this app, you accumulate points. With these points, you can actually buy goods. Even as big as cars.
Car61 will also implement an app for the carwash. Every single step of the way will be dealt with in the app, we learn from Kamerbeek. “You can obtain a wash, you can upgrade and even play games while in the car wash.”

Will this huge deal mean more Holz car washes in China, in the near future?

“We’ve already had a number of requests for information. On LinkedIn, people can clearly see we are now active in China. Our plan is to research if our new Chinese partner can also function as a future distributor in China. He has the network and soon he will also have the mechanics to build new car washes for us. That could be the beginning of a great partnership.”