Wacker Neuson is committed to delivering premium quality products and services to customers across Sub-Saharan Africa and has set its sights on Africa’s east coast, partnering with Pinto & Cruz to establish a solid foothold in Mozambique.
“Mozambique is a key market for us,” notes Managing Director of Wacker Neuson Sub-Saharan Africa, Dennis Vietze. “With numerous growth opportunities presented by mega projects in the LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) sector north of the country in Palma, we are aiming to extend our product and service portfolio to these customers so that they can add value to their equipment fleet.”
Pinto & Cruz
Vietze explains that Pinto & Cruz is a Wacker Neuson (Pty) Ltd. dealer in Portugal. “During a Wacker Neuson dealer summit held in Austria in June 2018, we met Luis Pinto, the grandson of António Pinto who, together with Arnaldo Cruz, founded the company in 1935.
Our discussions progressed to local meetings in South Africa and Mozambique and eight months later, in Q1 2019, Pinto & Cruz Mozambique joined Wacker Neuson‘s network of reputable dealers.” Vietze adds that this strategic dealer appointment was spurred on by the fact that Pinto & Cruz has a formidable Mozambican market network and its association with other premium brands attracts the same customer base across the various market segments making it a perfect fit for the Wacker Neuson product suite.
Founded over eighty years ago in the northwest Portuguese coastal city of Porto, Pinto & Cruz has evolved into a business group that consists of several enterprises catering to a wide range of industries including construction, forestry and agriculture.
Pinto & Cruz is synonymous with reliable, high quality products, a differentiating after-sales service and logistic solutions focused on customers’ needs. The company’s African footprint comprises an operation in Angola (since 1996), Mozambique (since 2014) and Cabo Verde (2015).
The agreement synergises the collective strengths of the two companies
Pinto & Cruz Manager, David César Carvalho, says that they are proud of their collaboration with a world-class brand such as Wacker Neuson.
“This dealer agreement synergises the collective strengths of the two companies to the ultimate benefit of our customers who are already familiar with the superior quality of Wacker Neuson equipment. In a bid to expand our product and service offering to our customers we have increased our Wacker Neuson fleet twofold.”
Carvalho adds that whilst Wacker Neuson rammers are currently the most popular equipment, the new diverse and more competitive portfolio will provide customers with enhanced options to cater to their specific application requirements. In addition, Pinto & Cruz now has more access to stock coupled with reduced delivery times.
“Twenty nineteen is going to be a sustainable growth year for Pinto & Cruz,” asserts Carvalho. “We have doubled our sales team and, with plans to open a new branch in northern Mozambique to support the LNG projects and oil & gas infrastructure in that region, we are perfectly poised to gain a greater market share across our primary target markets within the large construction and industrial sectors.”
With a large maintenance team of approximately 30 qualified technicians and engineers and a small workshop, Pinto & Cruz has the necessary competencies and is fully equipped to take care of all after-market activities on Wacker Neuson products in Mozambique. “We have previously completed repairs on Wacker Neuson products and, backed Wacker Neuson’s national operations team in service, technical and spares availability, we will extend these resources during the year,” adds Carvalho.
Training is key to getting the best product performance, efficiencies and extended life cycle through correct equipment use. Wacker Neuson will provide quarterly training on business, sales and aftermarket procedures to Pinto & Cruz in Mozambique as well as in South Africa at the Wacker Neuson Head Office in Gauteng.
Wrapping up Vietze says that this dealer partnership will serve to further strengthen and expand Wacker Neuson’s presence in Mozambique and its reach into the Sub-Sahara African region. “We are eager to grow with Pinto & Cruz; together with our partner we will tap into previously undiscovered customer opportunities and deliver best-in-class product and service solutions. Bem vindo (welcome) Pinto & Cruz!”
