Lovol Arbos Group: Italian base, "global" objectives

The first two years of business of the Chinese group, which is preparing to launch a full line branded Arbos, have ended with positive results. Production plants in Emilia Romagna and an eye to emerging markets, with a view to gaining a growing market share in Italy

Innovation, distribution and sustainability of the agronomic cycle are the elements on which the Lovol Arbos Group has developed it business in 2016. It is one of the emerging players on the global market, and in spite of its young age - the company has been in the agromechanical sector from just two years - it has nonetheless been able to shine in an industry where there are strong established brands. “Lovol Arbos Group is a company 100% owned by the Chinese Lovol Heavy Industry Ltd. of Weifang, a company active not only in the agricultural machinery sector, but also in construction machinery, off-road vehicles and components”, explained Andrea Bedosti, CEO of Lovol Arbos. At EIMA International he met the press to take stock of these two years of business and to illustrate the market strategies for the near future. As pointed out by Bedosti, this balance can be nothing but positive given the strong investments in the Goldoni brand - finalist, among other things, in the Tractor of the Year 2017 - the launch of the Arbos series 5000, 6000 and 7000, and the strengthening of MaterMacc (acquired at the end of 2014) with a new industrial area and the redefinition of the production site layout. It was precisely this site that produced one of the devices awarded as Technical Innovation at EIMA International. We are referring to the Recovery Energy Depressure (RED) a system by MaterMacc that uses the energy produced by the exhaust gases to create the vacuum necessary for operating the seed drill’s pneumatic distributor. For Lovol Arbos, 2016 marked the move of its headquarters from Bologna to Carpi, where the administrative offices were transferred and where the R&D centre will soon be located, including the modern “testing centre” for testing engines, tractors and transmissions. “Today - said Bedosti - we have 285,000 square metres of industrial surface, the third in Italy by scale. In the next 12-18 months we will be making significant changes not only to the layout of the production facility, but also to the design system.” The Group’s objective is to develop new machines based on the needs of the agronomic process, with a greater focus on operating costs, less impact on the environment, lower energy consumption and optimizing the use of seeds, fertilizers and crop protection products. The project, which should see the light within two/three years, is to create a full line under the Arbos brand (the other Group brands will not disappear entirely, but “will be used tactically,” explains Bedosti), with a focus on specialized tractors and open field machines (medium and high power) in the tractors segment, and for seed drills, sprayers and tillage in the equipment sector. “We aim for a lean and productive organization, present locally but - said the Group’s CEO - with an eye to the most dynamic markets, for which the “old continent” will represent a world hub”. First of all, the spotlight is on the European countries, North and South America, South Africa, Egypt and Algeria, without forgetting Croatia, Spain and especially Russia, Turkey and Iran, where the MaterMacc brand already has a strong presence. If the management forecasts will be met, within three years Arbos Lovol Group should achieve a total market share of 5% in Italy, with the specialized tractor sector attaining 12-15%.