Local motorized farm equipment manufacturer Ruris hopes to register a sales increase of about 65 percent this year, taking the total to EUR 5 million. The company estimates that the Romanian market for such equipment has grown by about ten percent this year to EUR 60 million, despite the fact that the overall market is fragmented and the boost was mostly fueled by sales of low-cost and no-name equipment.
Ruris was set up in 1993 in Craiova, southern Romania, by Catalin Stroe, a Romanian engineer who also fully owns the business. The company’s product range includes chainsaws, bush cutters, lawn mowers and tillers. In the future the firm intends to extend its product portfolio to include larger farming equipment and has announced that it has plans to produce a medium-sized hybrid tractor.
The products are assembled in Craiova with parts supplied both locally and from abroad – the US, Japan, China, Germany, Italy and Turkey. This year Ruris will invest EUR 500,000 in matrixes for series production, and an additional EUR 2 million will be invested by 2012 in expanding the production capacity.
Future plans also include increasing brand awareness at a national level as well as boosting sales in Transylvania and Moldova. Distribution is carried out through DIY chains – bauMax, Deedeman and Hornbach – as well as specialized shops and the company’s own 14 stores. Ruris hopes to decrease the share of sales made through the DIY chains to 30 percent from 52 percent presently.
Another developing direction is to further invest in innovation. The firm has 100 employees, 10 of whom work in its research and development department. Over the years the manufacturer has registered several products and technologies with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM) and says that the fact that its offer is adapted to the needs of Romanian consumers has helped it to constantly grow over the years. This has also allowed Ruris to compete with international manufacturers like Husqvarna and Stihl, who dominate the local market.
Simona Bazavan