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ARGENTINA
illustrated by Gomeria Rivadavia’s managing partner, Gustavo Luis Villa, who boasts 20 years’ experience with the company. He explained that the current market is one where the players are always fighting for position over price and the somewhat unpredictable political situation makes the market a particularly challenging one, indicating that a move towards additional fleet services should increase their competitiveness. Gomeria Rivadavia are a Vipal
meaning that business is very seasonal and mostly squeezed into 3 months of the year.
Expanding on the current market situation, Gustavo Luis Villa said a principal problem for Gomeria Rivadavia is that customers are too focused on price, so as a retreader it is their job to pay close attention to costs and quality. He did, however, concede that the issue of Chinese tyres is something that has not affected the Argentine market yet, but could be problematic going
with the purpose of ensuring that the staff are suitably prepared for resolving the never-ending price battle in the eyes of the customer,
as well as helping the customer to select the correct tread and giving appropriate advice on tyre maintenance.
Tirso Gomez to Open New Factory in Moreno
Tyre repair material manufacturer Tirso Gomez has announced that it is to open a new factory and warehouse facility in the town of Moreno near Buenos Aires. According to Managing Director Alberto Judas, the long term goal for the company is to relocate their head office to this new site, to help them to improve communication and cooperation between the locations.
So, what is Tirso Gomez’s main business? Well, they produce a full range of tyre repair materials plus cement and cushion gum, as well as acting as a distributor for Pincott, Dobermann and Rubberhog. Today, Tirso Gomez employs around 90 people. They additionally have two manufacturing plants plus an office and sales centre in Buenos Aires. On top of this, the company also has a
At this stage, Tirso Gomez only exports its patches. The exportation of the company’s repair materials stretches to 24 countries including most of Latin America, but they do not seem content to stop there, with plans well underway to increase the scope of their exports. Alberto Judas disclosed that the company has identified North Africa as a key geographical area to expand into. The company has already begun to make inroads into countries such as Algeria and Morocco. Bearing this in mind, it is clearly apparent that the North African and European markets are at the forefront of their growth strategy, whilst focusing on maintaining and consolidating their in their established positions in what they see as their more traditional markets.
Managing Director Alberto Judas (right) with Retreading Sales Manager Claudio Rondinone outside the company’s new facility in Moreno
Retreader based out of Rosario, the third most populated city in the country, only behind Buenos Aires and Córdoba. They produce somewhere in the region of 800- 1000 tyres per month and operate in a 200km radius from Rosario. Their clients are a mix of buses, freight transport companies and waste operators. The area around Rosario also has a high concentration of grain companies,
forward.
A further issue is that of a large number of retreaders operating in the black economy, avoiding tax regulations. In order to combat this, Gomeria Rivadavia have plans to open a truck service centre, so that they don’t have to depend on tyre dealers for the supply of casings.
In addition, the company is carrying out the training of its sales and technical staff through Vipal,
Adalberto Fernandez of Vipal together with Gustavo Luis Villa
48 Retreading Business
manufacturing facility in Paraguay.
In addition to products for the retreading industry, the company also sells accessories and consumables for tyre shops and is a distributor for Butler tyre servicing equipment. Alberto’s daughter, Laura Judas operates a sales office in the UK out of Rugby in the heart of the British Midlands, where she has managed to slowly but surely build up a strong reliable customer base in Europe. With customers based in Poland, Turkey, Spain, France, Greece and the UK, it’s clear to see the progress that is being made in this new market.
As of today, the new site in Moreno is operational with it housing a calendering unit, as well as the production of tyre paste. The expectation is that the new facility will be fully completed next year. Manager Director Alberto Judas said, “As soon as the calendaring unit is functioning satisfactorily, the process of moving repair patch production to the new facility will begin.”