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MAURITIUS
CMC’s Mauritius headquarters
Richard Foiret ( right)and Clifford Duval (left)
The production process is familiar around the world at any Bandag franchise
CMC – Bandag’s Outpost in Mauritius
the government- owned National Transport Corporation and two or three small independents using mainly Indian tread rubber. The largest retreader, though, is the Bandag dealer CMC (Compagnie Mauricienne de Commerce), based in Les Pailles close to the Capital Port Louis.
The company was the distinction of being one of the oldest Firestone dealers in the world, having worked with the company since 1922 and has also
been a Bandag dealer for fifty years. The company is managed by Mauritian-born Jean Pierre Langlois, who himself has been in the retread industry 35 years, and ably assisted by Assistant Senior Manager Richard Foiret. As well as Firestone new tyres and its own retreads, the company also sells new tyres from BKT, Triangle and Cooper Chengshan as well as a number of other diversified products such as Agip lubricants and fire protection equipment. The commercial vehicle tyre market is highly diversified, with a wide range of customer types ranging from sugar estates to public transport companies and a
variety of fleet sizes including large fleets, small fleets of 5-6 vehicles and private individuals. As a result CMC make a wide range of retreads. Overall, the company makes 2700-3000 tyres per month including tractor tyres, Bandag truck tyres from light truck up to super singles and a range of Bandag pre-cured retreads for passenger vehicles. The company also makes some mould cure retreads, industrial
deliver y vans tasked with delivering tyres and picking up casings (all production is on a COC basis).
In order to continuously improve service the company is introducing tyre management and maintenance policies for its customers, carries out scrap analysis and also carries out driver awareness courses.
“We are also looking to develop a 24-hour breakdown service”, says
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, 900km east of Madagascar, is well known as tourist destination. However, the home of the world’s most famous extinct bird, the dodo, has much more to offer than just tourism. The island, only 2000 sq km in size but with a population of 1.3 million people has a vibrant upper-middle level economy, originally based on the sugar industry but now expanded to cover financial services, business process outsourcing and information technology.
There are also about half a dozen retreaders on the island. There is a Goodyear Wingfoot dealer, two major bus companies including
tyres and some small forklift tyres. Around 55% of the company’s production is for the truck sector, both radial and crossply. According to Richard Foiret one of the key challenges of the increasingly sophisticated Mauritian market is to make sure the company keep its quality high and maintain a perceived quality amongst customers as being higher than that of new tyres.
This is helped by the fact that the market in Mauritius is now 60- 70% radial and growing as well as good awareness within the market of cpk arguments, which has enabled the company to maintain the position of the Bandag brand within the market.
“We are able to justify the Bandag price in the face of price competition from budget brand through tests we have carried out with our larger customers. We also receive exceptional service from Bandag South Africa who visit our market twice a year. Service to our customers is very important”. CMC services the entire island with a fleet of 5
Jean-Pierre Langlois. There is an increased demand for this here with more customers working odd hours, especially during the crop season.
Meanwhile, with CMC claiming over half the local retread market, Richard Foiret points out that the other major challenge is to keep the volume up and to take advantage of economies of scale in order to cement the company’s position in the market. “In principle”, he says, “the only way forward in terms of increasing market share still further would
be to make more investments in machines or take over competitors. We need to maintain our position in the market and in order to do this we need to make sure that we secure our customers’ loyalty and volumes by providing the best possible service”.
48 Retreading Business