Australian motors market-leader sets sights on the UK

Australia`s biggest motor manufacturer has set up shop in the UK with the aim of capturing 5-10% of the British market within five years. The CMG Group, which has been going since 1948, claims to have more than half of the Australian market.

The company has set up a subsidiary, CMG Electric Motors UK, in Telford, with Anthony Southwick (above, left) as sales manager, and Steven Pye (above, right) as product manager. Initially, the operation will have a staff of six, and the plan is to raise this to ten within two years.

Southwick says that CMG will offer a combination of quality, "very competitive" prices, and "a level of customer service not offered by current suppliers".

He says he has been struck by the poor level of service offered by many existing UK motor suppliers. "It`s not the same as we`re used to in Australia," he adds. "If we say we`re going to do something, we do it - we will go that little bit further to satisfy customers."

Southwick says that one of the reasons for setting up UK operation now was to take advantage of Brook Crompton`s recent problems. He adds that that CMG`s Australian experience could prove useful because it won business from its Australian rival, Western Electric, after it was bought by Brook Crompton`s present owner, Lindeteves Jacoberg.

As well as making standard industrial motors with outputs up to 800kW, CMG also supplies specialised motors including smoke ventilation, and hazardous area, Exd, Exe, and Exn types. It also works with customers to design motors for specific applications. Some of its motors are badged.

The company will also be supplying inverters (from Vacon), gears (Nord and Varvel), and torque limiters (Mayr). CMG plans to appoint UK distributors and will handle larger OEM accounts directly.