50-year old road machinery manufacturer sees the benefits of selling by auction.
Ritchie Bros. was able to sell new machines that had remained unsold for years.
By selling with Ritchie Bros. we didn't have to go hunting for buyers because their auctions always attract large numbers of international bidders.
Yang Xiangyang is the GM Assistant and Marketing Director of Xi'an Road Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., which has had a long and illustrious history developing and manufacturing road machinery in China for the past 50 years. Mr. Yang and his company only began consigning equipment with Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in 2008, but he is already convinced he will be selling with the world's largest industrial auctioneer again.
"Selling with Ritchie Bros. was easy; it saved me a lot of time," said Mr. Yang. "Ritchie Bros. took care of everything."
Xi'an Road Machinery is one of the oldest and largest road machinery equipment companies in all of China. It is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Ltd., which is listed among the Fortune 500 world's largest corporations. It manufactures four product lines consisting of more than 30 models, including asphalt mixers, pavers, road maintenance and railroad construction equipment.
Xi'an Road Machinery used Ritchie Bros. for the first time in November 2008—to sell five Vibromax smooth drum rollers that had been sitting in their factory unused for more than five years.
In 2002 they imported components for the Vibromax rollers from Germany to assemble and sell locally. "At the time there were very few large-tonnage full hydraulic rollers available in the local market," recalls Mr. Yang. "However, expensive costs made it difficult to compete with cheaper replacement products, so they remained unused in our factory."
A few years later, Mr. Yang met some Ritchie Bros. representatives at a trade show in Beijing. For the first time, he considered the possibility of trying to sell the Vibromax rollers to buyers from outside China. Another reason he decided to sell the rollers at a Ritchie Bros. auction: the machines would sell to a new owner on auction day without the need for any after-sales service.
Mr. Yang sold all five rollers at the Ritchie Bros. Dubai auction in November 2008. The rollers were purchased by buyers from across the Middle East. Ritchie Bros. proved they could provide the global marketplace Xi'an Road Machinery required.
"By selling with Ritchie Bros. we didn't have to go hunting for buyers because their auctions always attract large numbers of international bidders," Mr. Yang said. "The global reach created a fair global market price."
Ultimately, Ritchie Bros. helped Xi'an Road Machinery reach buyers for equipment that would otherwise be sitting in the same warehouse remaining unused. "Ritchie Bros. is a professional company who cares greatly about honesty, transparency and integrity," said Mr. Yang. "It's a great company to do business with."
Written and published: 2009
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