Page 10 - OPE November 2020

MARKETPLACE
Walk-behind mowers
to warehouse, and I don’t envisage too many disruptions.”
Bruce Wooding says Honda works with
a four-month lead time with orders and although the local distributor made “a brave decisiontoincreaseourbudgetoverlastyear”, he’ll also admit to being “ way ahead of that”.
Still, he warns, it’s possible that supply shortages may become more apparent in the new year.
“We carried good stock all the way through and, if anything, increased our ‘safety stock’, and have done a good job of keeping stock on retailers’ floors.
“A few spare parts have been in short supply but, where we can, and especially for a contractor, we’ll strip a few parts from a new product to get them up and running again.”
Post-COVID and post-lockdown, STIHL Product Manager, Phil Needham, says he and his team have also seen an increase in retail activity and will certainly be selling more lawnmowers this spring compared with last.
Having come off the back of “a serious drought which had pretty dire consequences for lawnmower sales earlier in the year” Phil
says the market was “quite suppressed until lockdown.
“But, coming into spring, grass growth is strong, the forecast is for more rain than average, and we’re confident that we’ll have astrongmowingseasonandwillbeableto meet product demand.”
Another brand to have experienced logistical “challenges” with the timely delivery of goods into the country, Phil
Cordless keeps up momentum
It produces very efficient cutting behaviour with very little unwanted turbulence from the blade itself, and we get a runtime advantage from that. There’s also significant impact protection for the solid-bar blades.”
“People aren’t travelling, they’re not expecting to travel for a while, they’ve got spare money, and they’re spending on products around the house”
confirms that, although there’s been “stalling of stock at various ports and congestion issues” that have delayed containers, STIHL’s high stock levels have buffered the effects.
Still, says Phil Needham, communication has been paramount: “We’ve taken the initiative to be a little more transparent with dealers about the stock situation so there are no surprises.”
Strategically, Phil Needham says STIHL remains firmly focused on offering the best range of battery lawnmowers for the New Zealand market. The latest introduction
to the range is a new lightweight and cost- effective entry model, the RMA 235.
“And it’s not often communicated that we’ve got a flow-optimised blade system developed especially for our battery mowers.
In terms of supply and demand, Phil
Needham says the depth of the STIHL
battery lawnmower range “works very well
for us” and that by early next year STIHL
willhavenineor10modelstochoosefrom. Philsaysthemainbatteryadvance
In this respect, he says: “If there’s a supply issue on a particular model, we now have the depth to steer customers to a similar model.”
this year has been in STIHL’s top-end commercial mower, the powerful and durable RMA 765V: “We’ve introduced a new large-capacity battery system and it can click into a mower or into a backpack harness system if required.”
Turning to Masport, Product Manager, Simon Gaunt, insists that, relative to petrol mowers, the supply of battery-powered units has been “in a better ‘in-stock’ position in the marketplace” and that battery has “maintained its momentum this year.”
Simon reinforces this with: “The supply disruption has been all about petrol and this looks set to continue into Q1 2021.”
It’s more than ever about the brand
In amongst all this disruption and change, have Kiwis changed how they buy products like walk-behind mowers?
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Husky LC range gets engine upgrade
THE DEPENDABLE RANGE of
Husqvarna LC series lawn mowers has received an engine upgrade to Loncin OHV engines, which are said to deliver a quieter and superior power output with reduced vibrations, emissions and effortless starting.
Cut quality remains high, says Husky, with durable and efficient cutting decks and swing-back blades for ease of maintenance. Cutting heights are easily adjusted by a single-point, heavy-duty steel segment and side-mounted lever.
All push- and self-propelled models feature soft grip folding handles with easy quick action cam lock levers, large dual ball bearing wheels that are firmly secured to heavy-duty axles with locking nuts to provide maximum durability.
Versatility remains excellent with the two-in-one cutting system offering mulching and a large volume, hard plastic collector as standard on all models.
www.husqvarna.com/nz/
HONDA GEARS UP TO ADD ELECTRIC
IF THERE’S ONE brand that’s
synonymous with petrol engines it’s Honda.
So it’s fascinating to hear from Bruce Wooding that Honda expects its first battery-powered mower samples to arrive here for evaluation in November, along with some battery handheld product.
“Australia now has battery mowers on the market, but it is a little too early for us to say whether we will run them or not,” says Bruce.
“On smaller mowers, battery is likely to be the way to go in future, but we’re a long way off that situation in the contractor market, where petrol reigns supreme.”
With an 18-inch self-propelled battery mower retailing for $1,149 in Australia,
Bruce Wooding says it’s early days to set a date or a price for New Zealand adding: “We won’t rush into this in the current season, so there’s potential for an autumn 2021 market launch.”
In New Zealand, the HRU216 remains Honda’s big-selling walk-behind mower. It’s self-propelled and features a robust 21-inch deck that makes it ideal for mowing lawns of 90 minutes or more.
In other range news, Bruce Wooding says the GCV160 engine has been discontinued and Honda now supplies the GCV145, 170 and 200 engines. “We’ve just received the 200 and we expect it will fit the market pretty well,” he says.
www.hondapowerequipment.co.nz