Helen Selkin, who is marketing communications manager for Merlo with responsibility for UK and Ireland, explains the new strategy by the Italian-owned brand: “It’s really exciting for us. The Merlo brand has been in the Republic of Ireland for the last 30 years and what Merlo Group has decided is that, as Ireland is an important market for Merlo machines, we are launching our own Merlo Ireland subsidiary. It will be an incorporated company with a dealer network throughout the Republic of Ireland. Already, we have got two dealers on side, FJS based in Naas and Jim Power, Agri Sales, down in Waterford. They will cover the northern and the southeast parts of the country. We’re currently in discussions with several dealers in the southwest and we hope to have the announcement for that region shortly.”
Raising the Merlo profile
This year, for the first time, Merlo took its own stand at the National Ploughing Championships (the Ploughing) and the company will also be at the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) Farm Machinery Show in Punchestown, supporting its new dealer network in the Republic.
Helen points to the benefits of Merlo’s strategy: “Efficiency of supply and delivery are among the reasons, as well as getting nearer to our customers. With Britain no longer in the European Union, we will be bringing in machines directly from Italy. By setting up our own Merlo Ireland company, we’ll have our own parts and servicing facilities. With our own service team over here it means that we can really support our customers as we would want to from within the country, as opposed to trying to service from the UK.”
New machine launches
The Merlo marketing manager confirmed the launch of two new machines on the Irish market: “We launched one at the Ploughing, with another scheduled for launch on the Irish market at the FTMTA show. For the first time here in Ireland, we’ve got our 30.7 telehandler model. The number 30 relates to the lift capacity of three tonnes and the number seven is the lift height of seven metres. One of the unique features of the Merlo telehandlers is their compactness. The 30.7 model is only just over two metres wide and can be specified to come in at two metres. The low version is two metres high, and the standard model is slightly over that. These machines are highly manoeuvrable because of their compactness and that’s one of their key attributes. All the machines have electric options with the same size cab. You get into a 30.7 model cab and you think, wow, this is big and spacious. It’s the widest cab on the market. The machines have cab suspension, making them a very smooth ride on the road, and they’re rated up to 40km/hr road speed.”
The drive to electric
Shaun Groom, general manager for the recently formed Merlo Ireland, takes up the Merlo direction of travel in relation to electric-driven machines: “Back almost 20 years ago, we started the development phase of looking for alternative ways of powering machines. In 2013, we showed a hybrid diesel-electric machine for the first time at Agritechnica in Germany. Since then, we’ve been continuing that development and at the end of 2021 we launched our fully electric e-worker model. In terms of the use of electric or any of the other range of alternatives, they are most appropriate around farmyards and worksites, particularly construction worksites. Getting them out in the fields for longer periods continues to be a challenge across the industry. That was one of the considerations for us. We didn’t want to launch a product with a very short work time. We wanted to develop a machine that could do a full day’s work, an eight-hour day on a single charge and that is what we’ve achieved with the e-worker, sticking with the traditional lead-acid battery technology. We use 1,400kg of batteries in an e-worker and a single overnight charge will give us an eight-hour work cycle the next day. And that’s eight hours of full-on work.
“In probably 20 years’ time, we’ll wonder why the electric developments didn’t happen a hundred years ago. I think, if we look back, electrics is not new. Milk in cities was being delivered with electric vehicles 50 years ago. We’re completing the circle by going back to a power source that’s been readily available. That’s the one thing about electric today. Wherever you go in the country, you can plug a machine in. Any of the alternative suggestions being put forward for zero emissions are still in their development phases. But the one sure thing we have about electric is we can find it anywhere. The fork truck industry has used electric for several years. So, it’s been well proven in recent decades.”