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Home > Spotlight
Mario Carraro takes over leadership
Rome - (Adnkronos Multimedia) - A history stretching over more than 70 years, beginning from 1932 when the first machinery for seeding was introduced, and continuing up to the Fifties with the development of tractor production. Then on to the Eighties, when part of the firm began to specialise in the production of mechanical transmission systems for cars, going on to become a world leader in the sector
Briefly, this is the path taken by Carraro, today a multinational group which designs, produces and markets mechanical transmission systems for on-road and off-road vehicles, agricultural tractors, earth-moving machinery, trucks, commercial vehicles and automobiles, as well as moving staircases and elevators.
These are the statistics for the Carraro Group today: more than 2,100 employees, of which 1,270 in Italy; 11 factories, of which five in Italy and the others in India, Poland, Argentina, Republic of Korea, Germany and the United States; two representational offices in Turkey and Japan, overall sales of 390 million euro; 83.3 percent of sales exported abroad, with a market incidence of North America (20.8 percent); United Kingdom (10.1 percent); Germany (14.4 percent); France (10.4 percent) and South America (8 percent). Mario Carraro is the President of the Group, and we asked him how the idea emerged to concentrate on such a unique manufacturing niche in such a specialised market.
"In the Seventies - Carraro replied - it seemed clear that the tractor market was not likely to show any significant growth. There was a need to bring about effective economies of scale, aiming at specialised sectors of the market. For this reason it was decided to separate the area of tractor systems and to let it grow autonomously, compared with the traditional manufacture of a complete range of agricultural machinery.
What are the manufacturing and marketing strategies that you have followed to assert your position as a leader in the sector?
"Manufacturing and marketing strategies, in a case like ours, almost coincide. We do not sell to the public, but to tractor and machinery manufacturers. This is why we decided to put all our efforts into product quality. We were the first in this sector to receive quality certification as far back as the Eighties, and we went on to receive certification from the American Ford company. Our strategy was to sell not only our own products, but also our services and development; to put on the market not only axles and avant-garde technological transmission systems, but also a whole manufacturing structure".
What importance did the evolution in the organisation of your firm have in developing the Carraro presence on the markets?
"On the international market today, quality is almost a given fact. Making a difference is the added value that can be injected into the product, and, of course, costs. And only a strong internationalisation was going to allow us to continue to offer the best products, with prices not too dissimilar from our competitors. We therefore chose to continue to grow in Italy, but above all abroad - India, Poland and Argentina."
What has been and what will be the future role for technological research, also applied to materials used?
"A fundamental role. Today, without the innovations that we have introduced with regard to materials and in manufacturing processes, we would not have arrived where we are now."
What are your aims for the future?
"Above all, to continue to grow. We have launched a development programme for the triennium 2004-2007 that includes giving special attention to a diversification in products and to research. I believe that for all firms now working at an international level, the future lies in a globalisation of productivity and not just marketing. We have to go out and produce in the area where future clients live".
Also in China?
"We are very seriously considering this, and I believe that we shall also take this important and decisive step in the future.
Information at:
www.carraro.it
Carraro SpA - Head office
Via Olmo, 37
35011 Campodarsego (Padua)
Italy
Tel. +39 0499219111
Fax +39 0499289111
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