Pöttinger has always been a popular brand in Ireland, and is probably best regarded for its forage wagons. It holds 50% of the market and is the number one seller year after year in this category.

Pöttinger started sales activities in Ireland 30 years ago. It established it’s own sales subsidiary in 2012, taking over from the then importers Traynors. The company believes it was a logical step forward to improve the cooperation with its dealer network and growing customer base. Since the founding of its own sales subsidiary in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, its employees were led by management from the Pöttinger headquarters in Grieskirchen, Austria.

This year, Diarmuid Claridge has been appointed as general manager to drive on the business in Ireland. Diarmuid previously worked for Murphy Motors, AGCO and most recently Lemken. He heads up a team with a wealth of experience, and he also has the advantage of technical backup straight from the production line in Austria. Diarmuid says this gives a huge advantage to Pöttinger and its customers, as first-hand information and feedback is received about the performance of products in the field.

Company performance

Recently Pöttinger released results for the 2015/2016 financial year. The family-owned business managed to achieve a turnover of €301m with a staff of 1,700 employees during in a tough market situation. In general across Europe there is an overall downturn in sales in the agricultural machinery industry. Grassland technology machines accounted for 57% of the companies in the agricultural technology sector, followed by tillage and seed drill technology at 28%.

The effort invested in developing new tillage, seed bed preparation and seed drill products at Pöttinger has paid dividends, according to the company report. There was an increase in sales of 20% in the seed drill sector compared with the previous year.

An export share of 86.5% demonstrates the importance of internationalisation for Pöttinger. The top five turnover growth countries in terms of absolute machine sales compared with the previous year were Ukraine, Canada, France, Japan and China. Together with Germany at around 19%, Austria and France with 13.5% of total sales each represent the largest and most important individual markets.

The team in Clonmel

Along with Diarmuid, the Pöttinger team in Ireland has five key personnel. On the sales side is Ben Stokes, who has worked as a demonstrator for Pöttinger previously, and is now looking after most of the sales calls along with Diarmiud. The company is also actively recruiting another sales person to develop and enhance the business.

Product specialist David Kelly deals with much of the technical issues and provides support on the ground to dealers. In the parts department, Michael Burke brings over 20 years of experience, and is joined by Padraig Brazil, a graduate from the Machinery and Arable Crops course at Kildalton College.

Keeping an eye on all the administration duties is another long-serving staff member, Noelette Ryan.

Diarmuid is keen to point out that the staff in Clonmel, have a great deal of experience to help all customers and dealers.

Back-up for the dealer and customer is paramount for Pöttinger and Diarmuid’s team. During the busy silage season, Diarmuid and Michael are confident that nearly all parts for most machines will be on the shelf in Clonmel.

Diarmuid says: “Everybody knows that breakdowns will happen, it’s part of life for the farmer and contractor. What we want to do is reduce downtime and loss of potential earnings by getting the machine going as quickly as possible for the customer. They can drive to Clonmel get the part and be on the move again in less than two hours in some cases.”

Diarmuid also stressed that many Pöttinger dealers will have the skills and parts to get most customers on the road without any help from Clonmel. But their assurance is that support and parts are available here. Parts that have to come in from Austria are delivered in 24 hours depending on getting the order in early, according to Diarmuid.

The future

Diarmuid is quite excited about the new products on the way. The investment in the drill factory based in Germany and right across all the cultivation equipment is paying dividends, with growth in sales across Europe.

The Pöttinger disc harrows are also eligible under TAMS, along with the non-PTO powered seed equipment. On the grass side Pöttinger will have the latest Pöttinger Novacat A10 that can be used as a front/rear combination (headstock for 3.0m or 3.5m front mower). The mower has a side shift range of 400mm on either side to ensure the correct overlap. The ground clearance when raised at the headland is up to 55cm. In addition, the new Y drive driveline and the hydraulic NonStop Lift collision safety device on each side are also unique to this new model.

Along with this is the new Torro 5510, the compact wagon for tight yards. Diarmuid is keen also to work with the dealer network to get the best possible service for the customers this season.