What exhibitors say about the show

BELL FRANCE, Claude Boulet, managing director: "The best INTERMAT ever"

"This was the best INTERMAT ever. We had a constant stream of trade visitors from Monday morning to Saturday evening. And they weren't just stopping by out of curiosity – 80% of them were planning to make a purchase at some point in time. This led to serious discussions rather than conversations based on curiosity, as often happens at BAUMA or INTERMAT during ‘ordinary’ years. We sold equipment to German and British customers right at the stand. I do have to mention that we welcomed few visitors from the UK and none from Spain; on the other hand, we saw a lot of people from North Africa. We were surprised at how successful we were, and this was borne out after the trade show, when the contacts we made turned into actual business deals. I do think there's work for construction companies.
"If our new B45 had been available, we would have sold it. This dump truck, which is undergoing CE certification testing in the UK, will be brought to market in July – earlier than expected, which is good news for us."

MECALAC AHLMANN, Henri Marchetta, CEO: "More contacts than three years ago"

"In my view, there are two aspects to the market: the machines needed to do the work and customers' purchasing behaviour. You only have to travel around France to see that there's work going on, but you'll also notice that companies have put off investing money in equipment. That's particularly true for large construction companies, which are concerned about maintaining cash flow. Relatively speaking, smaller companies are investing more.
"I find that the government is taking very positive steps in support of the construction industry. I also think that local authorities will help drive the recovery. The equipment market should rebound before the end of the year, most likely at a moderate pace. INTERMAT 2009 was a very good trade show. Members of CISMA, which we belong to, reported a high level of satisfaction with this year's show, despite the fact that there were fewer visitors than last time, especially visitors from abroad – though there was a good turnout from North Africa. As an exhibitor, I must say that we made more contacts than we did three years ago."

REMORQUES HUBIERE, Laurent Blaise, president: "We left the show reassured"

"Trailer manufacturing sales have dropped by 30-50%, and we’re down by 35%. We were looking forward to INTERMAT to gauge the health of the construction and public works industry, which normally represents 25-30% of our sales. Fortunately, the landscaping sector remains strong, which is positive for us. This may seem commonplace, but we had quality visitors who signed purchase orders and bought equipment right at our stand – that hasn't happened to us in a long time. I sense that our customers have medium- and long-term plans.
"We're very satisfied with INTERMAT, and all of our sales reps feel the same way. We left the show reassured. I think that INTERMAT 2009 created a buzz, which unfortunately has died down a bit since then."

LOXAM, Patrick Rizzo, marketing director: "Visitors are very concerned about service"

“The leasing business has been declining since mid-2008. It started with public works, and then moved to structural works in the first quarter of the year and finishing works in the second. This situation stems from projects that were ordered before the economic crisis hit and are nearing completion, as well as from a continual decline in the number of building permits, which has an inevitable impact on leasing prices. Many people were expecting a gloomy atmosphere at INTERMAT. Even though there were fewer participants, it seemed as if companies sent two or three decision-makers rather than five or six staff members. As for us, our stand actually saw more visitors, even though we're unusual at a trade show devoted to sales! But visitor priorities have changed: they're less focused on technology and products and more concerned about service, with questions on lease-agreement terms, full service and delivery issues. You get the feeling that leasing may be an alternative to postponed investments. The big unknown is how soon the economy will turn around – it’s not happening this year, in any case. And if construction works are undertaken, they will likely involve the launch of small and medium-sized projects by local authorities. It seems that many such projects are mothballed for now."

WALTHER, Jean-Luc Coupez, managing director

"We made 120 contacts at this year's INTERMAT; we usually make more than 200, but we were fortunate to meet high-quality visitors. We took advantage of the fact that we were the only company in our category. We were able to present our complete range of power-supply products for construction sites and generated a lot of interest among companies.”

MANITOWOC CRANE GROUP, Eric Etchart, president

"We're being affected by the crisis, especially in terms of building-construction machines, but we still had to come to INTERMAT 2009 to show distributors and customers that we're with them during this difficult period."

FIORI SPA, Andrea Bonomi, export director

"We increased our contacts by more than 25% compared to 2006 – and doubled our French contacts. We mostly saw distributors, who outnumbered contractors, and encountered no-one from Spain, Russia or Eastern Europe, though we did notice a big increase in visitors from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, and we did sell machines."

SCANIA FRANCE, Gilles Baustert, marketing director

"We welcomed lots of visitors, especially from North Africa. While our customers have frozen their investments – the truck market is very depressed – we had the feeling that they came to maintain contact."

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