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LATIN AMERICA SHOW
Vipal See Costa Rica as Model Retread Country to Regenerate Markets
backstage tour of the organisation’s activities in these markets starting with Honduras. Following three complicated years in the market due to the disastrous effects of the import of cheap Chinese tyres, Vipal has experienced a better year for the brand, and now has two retreaders in the country. One of these clients, Refrillantas, is the largest retreader in Honduras, manufacturing 1,700 tyres per month, and represents approximately 30% of the market, according to Soriano, with the retreader hoping to reach production levels of 2,000 units by the end of the year. Soriano expanded on the strategy behind their success in Honduras, “We are continuously strengthening relationships with clients and trying to understand their concerns more. This has the
people understanding the benefits of retreading and the associated ecological arguments. Besides this, we also collaborate with transports companies that cover Central America and all the territories in Honduras.” Fuma continued, “several good transport companies have realised retreading is a good option to save money and are therefore beginning to understand the benefits it brings.”
In our virtual retreading tour of Central America, Soriano took us across the border to Guatemala, where Vipal currently has five clients producing an average of about 2,000 retreads per month, mostly for bus fleets that work at a Central American level. Soriano highlighted that as part of Vipal’s customer service offering, he visits his clients
If you’re a regular to the world’s tyre trade fairs, you will have firstly clocked up some serious air miles, but more importantly, you will almost certainly have taken into account players that are always presenting their offerings in the most diverse corners of the world. Vipal
During our time at the exhibition, Gabriel Fuma, Commercial Manager NAFTA and Jarry Soriano, Technical Sales Support Representative were both available to go over Vipal’s performance in Central American markets, their response to the Latin American
and Caribbean Tyre Expo and their ongoing strategy for the territories in question.
As with many participants at the Latin American and Caribbean Tyre Expo, a key objective was brand awareness and the need to demonstrate a company presence at these events. Gabriel Fuma explained, “As always, a
significant aspect of our presence here is brand awareness and recognition. It’s essential to be present. On top of this, it’s always a good opportunity to catch up with our customers, and further improve these relationships.” Fuma went on, “Due to Panama’s location, we can see
customers from a whole range of markets. For example, over the next few days we expect to welcome clients from Jamaica, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia and Ecuador.”
With this variety of clients from the Central American market on hand, Retreading Business snapped up the opportunity to discover more about Vipal’s activities across these territories. Jarry Soriano, Technical Sales Support Representative for Vipal in the region, gave us the VIP
Jean Barros, the Sales Manager for Vipal in the region presented to attendees during the show’s seminar programme
Rubber Corporation definitely fall into that category, as less than a week after attending the inaugural Tire Cologne, representatives from the company were available to present the organisation’s range of retread and repair materials at the Latin American and Caribbean Tyre Expo.
added benefit of enabling us to renovate more, do our job better, and ultimately work better as a team.
“Additionally, we are trying to do more inspections with fleets and work closer with other parties, but this is not unique to Honduras. This approach stretches through all corners of the region,” elucidated Soriano. One of the more curious aspects of the market in Honduras is that there is currently no association for retreaders to consult with and to help to educate and engage the locals. With the absence of such a body, Vipal has been working side by side with Refrillantas to educate the market, whilst also trying to improve Vipal’s brand identification.
Soriano stated, “through this work we have seen progress in
every two months as well as the end users of the company’s products. Not only that, Vipal has been working strenuously in the region to promote Vipal Fleet during its launch phase and educate clients about the benefits that the software brings.
Vipal Fleet, which Soriano says has been “very well received” across the board, is part of the organisation’s strategy to come out swinging against the Chinese tyre issue that has threatened to squash the global retreading market in the recent past. This topic has been keenly felt in Guatemala.
“There has been a big influx of Chinese tyres into the market and with no import restrictions and lots of contraband coming in, it has been a very tough time in the market. However, this
Vipal were continuing the launch of their Vipal Fleet product
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