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AUTOPROMOTEC
Markets were opening up elsewhere too, India, the Middle East, even Africa, but the one market where shearography use seemed to be a bit of an enigma was in North America.”Many retreaders buy shearography machines, but not all of them use them. They might use them to do the odd spot test but many American retreaders don’t make it part of the process on every
tyre that they produce. If we could understand why they buy the equipment and only make marginal useofit,wemaybeabletodomore to help them develop the market.” On the show itself, Zehentmaier observed that it seemed to be a little quieter than in past years, but the overall quality of the visitors to the stand was higher than it had been previously.
Marangoni Outlines Latest Developments in Overseas Markets
stores have now already been sold, with plans afoot to divest more. According to Ferrari, the plan is to retain only three pilot stores.
Other changes in Brazil include the expansion of the mixing room at the Brazil plant and the planned return of Gian Piero Zadra to the European market. Zadra’s position as head of the South American operations will be taken by Giacomo Melotti.
Ferrari also gave his view on the current pressure being placed on the retreading market in many regions
by Chinese new tyres, which he put down to three main factors, namely the rate of exchange, Chinese internal inflation and low raw materials costs. “The retreading industry will have to fight hard for a couple of years to maintain its share against Chinese tyres, but after that, market conditions will most likely revert to the previous situation. Nonetheless, we believe the current situation will carry on for two or three years,” he said.
Speaking at the Autopromotec exhibition in Bologna recently Giuseppe Ferrari, Managing Director of Marangoni’s Retreading Systems division, outlined some of the latest developments in the company’s overseas markets.
Of key importance, of course, is the recently announced acquisition of a
introduce local production of the ring, which will allow Marangoni to expand its position in the growing sub-Saharan market. The 25% stake, said Ferrari, was an initial stake, and Marangoni will be looking to increase ts shareholding as Leadertread invests in its production facilities.
Another key market for Marangoni in terms of future prospects is India, and Ferrari announced that the company will be setting up the first of three planned pilot shops in July/August. “Radialisation is growing fast in India,” said Ferrari, “and we believe the time is now right to expand in that market.
In the meantime Marangoni is looking to divest
several of its wholly owned retread shops in Brazil. The company originally set up 12 factories in areas where they were unable to convert existing retreaders. Four of these
SDS Satisfied with Position
25% stake in the South African tread maker Leadertread in South Africa. According to Ferrari, Leadertread are currently carrying out a modernisation of the Johannesburg plant and will be looking to
Shearography equipment manufacturer SDS are nowadays omnipresent at tyre shows. Their equipment is everywhere, though Stefan Dengler reported that he would be relieved if some of the tyre manufacturers would sanction full use of shearography rather than just for spot testing or final inspection. “Of course, I want to sell shearography equipment and the more they use it the more I can sell, but we can only offer what the market wants. At the other end we always have people who like the idea
of shearography but don’t like the price of a full machine. They often argue that they can see issues in the sidewall without the need for shearography. What they are interested in is the tread and shoulder shearography, and we hope that some will eventually trade up.” Dengler was clearly happy with the market and relatively relaxed about the state of the tyre market. “It will pick up and we will sell into the market as it develops. Quality is increasingly important and shearography is an important
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