Fiat Kobelco names Molson as first UK distributor

Fiat Kobelco will appoint existing Kobelco dealer Molson Holdings as its first distributor in the UK.

Giuseppe Ferrulli, sales and marketing vice-president for Fiat Kobelco, said it had decided to appoint Molson, although the contract had yet to be signed.

Jonathan Wilson, director at Molson, confirmed that talks are at an advanced stage: "We are in relatively advanced negotiations with Fiat Kobelco but we've not signed anything yet. Things could still go wrong, although there's no reason why they should - we're both aiming for the same thing. Our target is to re-launch Fiat in the UK in March."

The appointment ends months of speculation over who would distribute Fiat Kobelco products following the termination of its relationship with HM Plant. However, Ferrulli said the Molson deal is not an exclusive arrangement and more distributors would follow.

"Molson will not be the only dealer for the UK - we're looking to appoint another two or three in the next few weeks," Ferrulli added, although he would not be drawn on which companies were in negotiations with Fiat Kobelco.

Nevertheless, Wilson said that Molson would be the sole distributor for most of England: "We will cover all of England up to and including North Yorkshire. We understand there'll be another dealer for the very north of England and Scotland, and one for both Northern Ireland and Eire."

Wilson added the arrangement would not affect Molson's existing Kobelco dealership: "Molson will remain a Kobelco dealer and there'll be no splits in our sales or service staff .We're optimistic of increasing sales of 'blue' Kobelco machines by 10% this year to over 300 and achieving total sales of both ranges of around 700. We've already sold approaching 40 'orange' Fiat Kobelco machines."

The full range of Fiat Kobelco equipment will be on show at SED 2003.