York gets wet with OMT
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• Trailer manufacturer York has made its third major Continental acquisition, snapping up Italian petrol tanker specialist OMT.
The purchase means the York Group will be able to make 'wet' tankers for the first time, says managing director Jim Davies, but OMT's products will not be available in the UK in the forseeable future because the market for them would be too small, he says.
The Corby-based group took over French builder Titan in 1989 and Piacenza of Italy the year before. It planned to market a York-badged Piacenza dry freight tanker in Britain after unveiling one at Tipcon last year, but the recession has delayed this venture.
York has also won its biggest single order, from Central Trailer Rentco, for 730 reefers, curtainsiders and other trailers. The order, which will be completed by May, is mainly for the Continent. It has more than 300 German orders for Thermostars.
York bought family-owned OMT, based in Tortona near Milan, to relieve pressure on Piacenza in the Italian market, says Davies. Piacenza, which offers dry tanks and tilts, has an order book worth &Wm.
Tortona employs 130 and has a turnover of £17m. Although it has 30% of the Italian liquid tanker market, a quarter of its production is in conventional trailers, says York.
York also hopes to buy another French manufacturer and one in Germany — possibly a reefer builder. Davies is pushing his French subsidiary Titan towards a 10% share of that market; although Titan trailers are not sold in the UK, York is making 40 van and reefer bodies a month for France, where they are sold under the Titan badge.
The company has also made moves to standardise its range across its European products, says Davies. With a "standard design approach" on crossmember spacing, tilt bodies and rails.
It has sold one of its UK subsidiaries, military vehicle manufacturer Glover Webb of Hamble, Hants. "We've been trying to get rid of it since 1988," says Davies.