Grupo Iraola invests $ 980 million, expands its portfolio and consolidates itself as a leader in motorcycles

The manager also praised the new businesses faced by the firm in the segments of electric buses and Compressed Natural Gas, its range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles with the Chinese brand Foton, and the agribusiness unit.

In Regarding the agribusiness segment and as part of a diversification process, Iraola through the agricultural company Arraiz is dedicated to primary production, productive processes, finished products and export of soy, corn and wheat, both in its own and rented fields .

In this sense, Iraola anticipated that the objective of this business unit is to break into the beef export market to China, for which they are closing an agreement with a local meat processing plant to generate the different authorizations and specify the first shipment.

The recent investment will allow:

Incorporation of a specific assembly line for the production of Kawasaki motorcycles, with the of new 300/400/650/900 cc models. by 2021. For the first time, with more than 40 years of presence in the country, Kawasaki approved the local manufacture of its motorcycles. It is worth clarifying that the Japanese brand only outsources the production of its motorcycles in Colombia and Argentina.

The incorporation of new 400/500 operators, in addition to the 377 incorporated in the last 100 days, and to the more than 1000 collaborators that make up the group.

Expand manufacturing facilities from 20,000 m2 to 40,000 m2 during 2021.

Increase production capacity from 120,000 to 250,000 motorcycles per year with increasing levels of integration of local parts.

Increase replacement of imports by local parts.

Incorporation of assembly line and braking for the Dominar model of Bajaj. Argentina being the first country to launch the Dominar 250 worldwide. Bajaj Auto is the third largest motorcycle manufacturer worldwide.

Increase the production capacity of 110/125/150 cc engines to 150,000 units per year to increase integration of local parts in motorcycles, substituting imports.

Incorporate the production of Mini-Trucks.

Incorporate the production of CNG, LNG and Electric buses.

The bid for Zanella

In the midst of a pandemic, Corven won a court bid from Motomel and got Zanella's brand and assets. Thus, the group consolidated itself as the market leader and aims to keep 40% of the market share (currently it holds 37%).

The dispute over Zanella began a year ago. Corven had bid $ 117 million for the brand alone, but Motomel got into the dispute with an offer of $ 245 million for the entire company.

“That complicated the negotiations, forced us to make an offer for the entire company and we ended up in Justice, which ruled in our favor, "said Leandro Iraola, president of Grupo Iraola. "In the end it ended up being a better business for us," said the businessman, who acknowledged that the purchase was made together with an investment group, although he did not specify the name.

He also reported that they had to pay 480 indemnities and that they stayed with just 70 employees. "It is the motorcycle brand par excellence and occupies an important place in the preferences of Argentine consumers," said Iraola.

The group aims to relaunch Zanella with a new brand design, it intends to position itself strongly in the after-sales service, enhancing customer service channels.

The Foton brand

In 2018 the group created a new Business Unit linked to the automotive sector, focused on the commercialization of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

The first Vehicles launched on the market were Foton trucks with their Aumark product range, recognized worldwide for their Cummins engine technology and ZF transmissions. Lastly, the group launched Corven Buses. These are vehicles for public transport, electric and CNG. They ensure less environmental pollution, as well as low-cost operation and maintenance.