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AUTOPROMOTEC
keep the staff engaged, saw the Vipal stand appear as one of the busiest of the retread materials suppliers’ stands. The company has a knack of making people welcome with its open presentation and its welcoming staff. If Vipal is making inroads into the European market, and the evidence says that it is, then perhaps its competitors need to take a look at how the company has opened its doors and made itself a brand that cannot be ignored in any market across Europe.
Vipal had little new to show at Bologna, the latest treads had been previewed at the North Amercan Tire and Retread Show and had been seen in the trade press prior to Autopromotec. So, the attendance at Bologna was about relationships and branding and developing opportunities as much as it was stone cold selling of goods.
During the five days of the event, the company’s booth was visited by many current and potential customers from all over the world.
Most of the deals concluded during Autopromotec were with customers from Italy, followed by countries such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and others from Eastern Europe. Aside from the business volume, show was important for emphasising the growth of the Vipal brand in the European market. “This time, when customers visited us, it was with the intention of concluding business deals rather than asking us about the products and services we offer,” says the General Manager of Vipal Europe, Alessandro Bottesini Campos. For the team, this represents the results of their hard work in the 90+ countries where the company operates through sales and marketing departments.
Portuguese rubber compounders and tread manufacturers EIB had their usual presence at Autopromotec. The company’s clear design and colours making it stand out.
Like other tread manufacturers EIB were witnessing a poor first quarter in 2015 and the company policy was simply to hang in there. Sales Manager, Bruno Carvalho said “We have been asked to provide cheaper products to help combat the recession, but we have built our name as a compounder by supplying only the best materials. We would not be supplying Tier One manufacturers if we produced
second grade products.
“So, in order to retain our branding and our reputation we are sticking with quality products and our regular customers, such as Sieca in Marinha Grande, are loyal to us, and when we have worked through the current economic situation we will be in a strong position to develop the market.”
Tiago Coutinho, the Executive Administrator for EIB agreed, “We must maintain our quality. We have some tier one clients in the automotive sector and we must maintain standards to maintain that supply position.”
EIB Hoping for Market Improvement
Tyres Remain Important for Steinbichler
When it comes to optical measurement, Steinbichler is a global player in a wide range of industries. However, tyres remain an important market sector for the firm. Roland Zehentmaier was sanguine about market conditions, “We sell shearography machines into the tyre sector, and in Europe we see
ongoing development of their use. Often retreaders will use shearography to check every single tyre, and the quality outcome is that European retreads are nowadays much improved over past examples. There are no significant retreaders in Europe who do not use shearography.
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