![]() But their strategies could not be further apart. Seeing Russia as a local production location and export powerhouse, both Ford and GM opened new production facilities in Russia last year. GM assembles Chevy Nivas using VAZ-stamped body panels at the GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture. SHAAZ uses copper strip and brass tubes to build radiator cores via CuproBraze technology. More importantly, the market is turning into a global low-cost source for cars and components due to low labor, material and energy costs, which are 1/6 of those in Europe and will remain substantially lower, says Herman. Used foreign vehicles - a growing and very important segment - will equal 505,000 units. Ford estimates the market for new Russian car sales at almost 1.3 million units while new foreign vehicle sales will touch 108,000. “Russia will grow in importance,” he says. Former head of GM Russian operations David Herman says Russia is one of the largest markets in the world and will grow faster than others. By 2006, that number should touch 1.5 million cars. “You have to do a plan, evaluate a risk and go for it.”Īccording to GM data, the new car market in Russia currently totals about 1.1 million units. “If you are timid in life for everything you will never get out of bed,” he says. When you are in business you have to take a risk, says John Mylonas, managing director of the GM-AvtoVAZ JV plant. While experts agree the market is still volatile and at times dangerous, there are ways to succeed in Russia. Most importantly, the government has detailed a plan for the industry, including curbing the import of used vehicles. Oil companies are setting up partnerships in Russia, while local automakers and suppliers find the money to invest in their aging operations. It’s slower than before but automakers are more cautious than before.ĭuring the last year the world’s two largest automakers opened production facilities while others have reconfirmed their intentions to build vehicles in the market. Five years later the spotlight is again starting to brighten on Russia. It seemed like the automotive promise land.īut economic crisis hit in 1998, the ruble fell and automakers had to deal with problems in their home markets. ![]() The market was large and growing and while customers were craving the latest vehicles local automakers were supplying lowquality cars straight out of the ’70s. Virtually every automaker had some sort of production plan for the world’s largest country and suppliers seemed willing to follow their customers to supply high quality, high-technology components. With concrete, it is possible to bring cooling into the heating tubes.In the mid-’90s automakers and suppliers were looking at Russia like they are now looking at China. Only this is not utilized by many growers. The Dutch Container Systems could include climate systems under them. The ErfGoedFloor Excellent allows growers to put a layer of water on the floor without watering the crop, allowing plants to receive cooling from below. If we were to take this alone as a starting point, the figures would be different again.Įxample of explanation about the subject cooling But robotization also offers many new opportunities. With flying forks, plants can easily be brought forward from the back of the greenhouse. There have been many new possibilities for internal transport in recent years. An important point that should be mentioned here. Crushed stone and fabric may move if driven on, leading to more maintenance. Furthermore, a concrete floor can be driven on better than an ErfGoedFloor Excellent.īy the way, it is possible to drive on an ErfGoedFloor, so this surface still gets 1 point. Therefore, this surface scores the highest. The Dutch Container Systems makes the whole process automatic. ![]() In the webinar, Jack Ford (sales manager of North America for ErfGoed) explains the difference.įigure 1: The ranking of the different surfaces, the ErfGoedFloor Premium is excluded from this picture.Įxample of explanation about the subject automation Below you get an overview of the ranking with plusses and mines. For example, the fabric floor they compare is not liquid-tight.ġ5 different topics to compare 7 surfacesĮvery surface gets a ranking between -3 to 3 points for every topic. The webinar starts with defining the definitions of different surfaces, such as concrete floors, crushed stones, benches, Dutch container systems, and fabric. This article gives you some of the highlights of this webinar. ErfGoed hosted a webinar about greenhouse flooring.
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