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INTERVIEW <
AC WORLD NEWS
1. How do you foresee the French agricultural market over the next few years and in particular the role of the dealer??
The French agricultural market has been experiencing change for many years. It is necessary to take note of two things: companies are becoming
more specialised and they opt for either volume in order to lower their costs, or they go for labelling (BIO, DOC) in order to be able to apply higher
prices.
The distribution network needs to keep pace, in that it must become more competent regarding the product it offers and needs to offer its
customers quality brands which is defined in terms of their manufacturing, after-sales service and product availability. Antonio Carraro is an
excellent example of this.
FRANCE:
A NATION THAT APPRECIATES QUALITY
Interview with François-Eric de Launay, President of Socodicor-CAMPA, purchasing group for Claas dealers, President of Sodave, AC importer in
France who will shortly be celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
5. You are an excellent golfer. What do you love most
about the sport?
It is true that I play golf and it enablesme to come acrossmany
AC tractors. In answer to your question it is the quality of the
courses and the work of the greenkeepers that surprises me
every time I go to play. They also are real specialists in their
field. Golf is a pastime for me, which allows me to relax my
mind…especially when the little white ball cooperates!
2. How do you see the future of Socodicor-CAMPA?
CAMPA is a purchasing group and a distribution chain, which concentrates on
selecting “the best technology at the best price”. Also the agricultural sector is
subject to the entrance of new companies that via the internet or trade journals,
offerequipmentandproductsfromquestionablesourcesandofdebatablequality.
CAMPA’s job is to select and distinguish authentic products, which conform to
the quality expected by the distributors and by the agriculturalists, from those
products of uncertain quality. It also checks that the prices recommended by the
manufacturers are fair and suitable. This is why CAMPA will have a great future
and every year more distributers and customers join our ranks.
3. Everyone says that your country’s wines are the best in the world. Is it
true?
Together with some Italian and Spanish wines, French wines are indeed amongst
the best. Due to the quality of the terrain, the climate and above all our wine
producers’ ancestral know-how, France sets itself apart from the other countries
in terms of wine-growing. From east to south east, passing through Champagne,
Burgandy, Bordelais and wines from the Loire Valley, where there is Saumur, my
home town, anyone will find a wine to suit the palate.
4. How has your relationship with Sodave and the Antonio Carraro tractors
developedover the last 8 years? What can you tell us about thedevelopment
of the new products?
SODAVE understands that the AC brand and its tractors represent a specialised
offer of a high quality. The range of AC tractors is geared towards arboriculture,
wine-growing, green areas andmany diverse specialised sectors. Only a structure
like SODAVE would have been capable of satisfying all of these criteria.
What is there to say about the new products from the range? They are the joy
of the distribution network and the customers: cabs, gearbox technology,
immediate compliance with pollution legislation, new product design. How
much there is to show our customers!
SILVIA CARRARO