Capital Equipment News July 2019

are not new to the targeted market; the customers we are targeting with these equipment solutions are our existing clientele. We are already selling them our telescopic handlers, and the backhoe loader and the skid steer are great additions to the portfolio. MS: What sort of market share are you targeting, particularly in the backhoe loader market? SR: To be realistic, we don’t see ourselves becoming a leader in the short, or even in the medium term. There are already well- established players who are very strong in the backhoe loader market. We want to become a credible player. Our target is to get to number three in the market in the next three to five years. [MS]: Manitou Group has unveiled new products at its Stronger Together event in Thailand. Tell me more about the new products and when can we expect their launch in South Africa? [SR]: We have launched two new Manitou MXT 840 and Gehl TX 408 telehandler models specifically designed for emerging markets. The new solutions respond to user needs in these markets – with special design focus on increased versatility, productivity, safety, reliability, simplicity and, above all, lower total cost of ownership. More importantly, the new machines – manufactured in Asia – come at a competitive price point than their European-made counterparts. That, coupled with lower total cost of ownership, translates into a great value offering for our African customers. In terms of the local launch, I expect the two new telehandlers to arrive in South Africa by the third quarter of this year. Additionally, we have launched two Manitou and Gehl versions of skid steers. With a large choice of attachments, such as buckets, sweepers and breakers, the Manitou 1340R and Gehl R134 are versatile machines that can do a multitude of jobs on the same site, eliminating the need for different equipment. Equipped with a 49-hp engine and a torque converter transmission, the models provide a lifting height of 3,58 m for a maximum load capacity of 608 kg. Offering restricted dimensions – 1,3 m wide and 1,9 m high – the skid steer loaders easily move in tight areas on building construction sites. MS: With your arrival, Manitou Southern Africa’s area of jurisdiction has increased. Tell me more about that. SR: We changed the jurisdiction of Manitou Southern Africa with me moving

here. Bear in mind that I also double up as vice-president for Middle East Africa, which now makes it easy to control Africa from South Africa. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will ship machines from South Africa to the rest of Africa. Due to logistics costs, we will still send machines directly from the factories to each one of the destinations, but the management of Africa will be done through our subsidiary in South Africa. Service and support in terms of backup for our dealers is done through South Africa, in addition to the main offices in respective regions. We have effectively split Africa into North, Central and South regions. We have since appointed regional sales and regional service managers for each region. MS: Apart from SA, which is obviously the biggest market in Africa, where else do you see better opportunity? SR: We are doing very well in Algeria at the moment, which is the second biggest market in Africa after South Africa. We have a longstanding dealer which represents Manitou very well in the market. We also appointed a new capable dealer for North-West Africa last year, and we expect to see some growth in that region. Ivory Coast and Senegal are the two main markets out of the 11 countries the new dealer looks after. The DRC is also offers massive growth opportunity from a mining perspective. We are quite strong in the DRC, especially in the Katanga region where we see big prospects to grow and develop our business further. MS: What’s the state of the market in SA and what is your outlook for the rest of the year? SR: Year-to-date the market has been challenging. The uncertainty experienced heading towards the recently-ended elections was a big challenge. With the elections out of the way, we hope there will be a clear direction from the government now in terms of investment into infrastructure. For the balance of the year we expect to see at least similar sort of levels we experienced last year and hopefully some growth moving into next year. We are committed to the development of our business in South Africa. To give an idea, last year Manitou Southern Africa became a Level 2 B-BBEE business. As a company we are proud of this achievement, which reiterates out strong commitment to South Africa. We will be here for the long haul, especially considering the investments we have made in recent years to be a strong player in the market. b

ABOUT STEVE RYDER Steve Ryder is a mechanical engineer by profession. He graduated from Leeds University in the UK. A British national, he started his career with JCB back in 1992 on the manufacturing side of the business, before he moved into a global marketing role and eventually a sales function based in the Middle East. He then joined CNH Group’s Case Construction where he was marketing manager for Middle East and North Africa before he joined Manitou in May 2018 as vice-president Middle East Africa. He took the MD role at Manitou Southern Africa on an interim basis in September last year, before officially taking the reins on 1 July this year. He will also remain as vice-president Middle East Africa, but his primary role will be that of MD Manitou Southern Africa.

forklift business, which I feel can do better. We are very strong with our rough terrain forklifts, but we need to develop further our normal range. It’s obviously a highly-competitive market, but we have competitive products which are well supported across the market area. MS: You mentioned the backhoe loader and skid steer – the two solutions constitute about half of the total equipment market in SA, but the market is highly overtraded. How do you aim to capture a sizeable share of that market? SR: Manitou’s reputation for providing simple, reliable machines is our key competitive edge. Most importantly is the way we support and service our customers, because the product is just one part of the equation in terms of the total solution. We have experienced and capable dealers across the market area to support our customers. As part of our total solutions approach, we also offer our own in-house finance. The total package approach allows us to better service our customers. Another strong point for us is that we

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