Export from Siberia to Africa

Up to 70% of Alucar’s sales come from exports all over the world. Alucar’s superstructures have been designed to endure extreme conditions, very poor roads and both freezing and hot climates. The company has one developer of export products who always demands high quality and accepts only the best functionality: the domestic customer, worth their weight in gold.

When a man in Siberia decides to start transporting timber, he usually buys an old timber truck at first, one whose superstructure has already served thousands of hours. The superstructure carries the name Alucar, which may be his introduction to the brand. In his everyday work, he finds that the truck and its superstructure do very well, despite their age. He is impressed, and Alucar has a new regular customer.

“We have gained numerous new customers this way, many of them from exotic locations. Although some our customers have first got to know Alucar through second-hand products, they are still extremely happy with them,” says Managing Director Anssi Alasaari.

High quality Requirements

Quality requirements in Finland are so high that if a company can measure up to them, they have the global market at their fingertips. This is the case with Alucar. That’s why the company considers its domestic customers its most important research and development team for its exports. Finland’s changeable weather conditions, long distances and challenging forest roads require large investments in the product development of superstructures – especially when it comes to materials and assembly.

“If the superstructure can take the kind of rough use it has to endure in Finland, it will be favoured in all corners of the world,” says Export Manager Virpi Hattula. These days, you can stumble across Alucar products on almost every continent, including Africa. “Right now there’s a truck that’s been fitted out by Alucar transporting firewood at one of Lipton’s tea plantations in Kenya,” Alasaari says.

“Right now there’s a truck that’s been fitted out by Alucar transporting firewood at one of Lipton’s tea plantations in Kenya”
Anssi Alasaari

Alucar has around twenty distributors overseas and its products are exported to more than 30 countries all over the world. Its primary marketing areas, however, are Europe and Russia. In Europe, it sells most of its products in the Nordic countries, followed by Western Europe, the Baltic and Eastern Europe. According to Alasaari, the Russian market is always fairly unpredictable, but currently exports there are quite large, considering the circumstances. All in all, Alucar’s exports have grown steadily over the last 15 years. “The whole industry crashed in 2009, but we’ve been able to return to our former level due to our long-term development in different markets and our strong product know-how,” he explains.

Great Opportunity on the Undeveloped Markets

Alasaari believes that the light weight and easy assembly of timber equipment will become more and more important in emerging markets. At the moment, it is not yet critical whether a truck or combination weighs a few hundred kilos less or more, or what its installation costs amount to.

“But as trucks and equipment develop, having a lightweight truck will become more important, and that’s where Alucar’s strengths come in. The cost level is also rising all the time, meaning that the ease of assembly will highlight the advantages of our products. In brief, we see the progress of undeveloped markets as a great opportunity for Alucar,” Alasaari says.

Alucar designs all its superstructures for export according to the truck plan. When the design is complete, the parts are delivered to their destination with exact documentation and with the components the customer has chosen. “Our products are always delivered with clear assembly instructions and, thanks to our bolted mountings, installation onsite is quick and easy,” Hattula says.