New Doosan and Bobcat dealer in Mauritius

Headed up by managing director Patrick Webb, PPCL will take on responsible for sales and service of the Doosan Heavy range of crawler and wheeled excavators, wheel loaders and articulated dump trucks.

Webb will also be responsible for the Bobcat range of compact loaders, excavators and telescopic handlers, as well as the Doosan Portable Power range of compressors, generators, light towers and light compaction equipment.

PPCL said it would focus on the key markets of construction, public works, landscaping, general industry and agriculture on Mauritius.

"We are already planning an expansion in our operations, because the demand is there," Webb remarked. "To begin with, we are concentrating on the customers who are our partners and we want to bring added value to the relationships we have with them."

To celebrate the appointment, PPCL held an opening ceremony attended by more than 70 customers, who were joined by Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment regional director Africa, Daniel Dupuy, and district manager Africa, Adem Urer.

Dupuy said, "I was very impressed with the way that PPLC has taken on this challenging appointment as setting up simultaneously a joint Doosan Heavy, Bobcat and Portable Power dealership is not an easy task. But from day one, Patrick Webb and Charles Derblay, the technical director at PPLC, have been very efficient and proactive in getting ready for the opening.

"They have organised very rapidly – from the personnel point of view, all the required staff including parts customer service representatives, service engineers, accounts, parts and sales people and, of course, the receptionist were in place from day one."

"At the same time, the company ensured the premises were fully operational with customer service desks for parts, parts shelves, the service workshop for light maintenance and repairs and a show room with machines, attachments, accessories and parts on display were all up and running well before the opening ceremony," he added.

Patrick Webb commented, "Complementing our sales department, PPCL has a professional aftermarket service. We have tried to make sure that everything is in favour of the customers, with qualified personnel, customised service and a thorough knowledge of the business and the world leading Bobcat and Doosan brands.

"We appreciate the confidence expressed in us by Doosan as demonstrated by the presence of both Daniel Dupuy and Adem Urer at the Opening Ceremony. The presentation by Daniel at the ceremony caught the attention of all the audience of company staff and customers who stayed late into the night at the event.

"The audience was also riveted by a presentation given by Adem Urer, in which he described the products and attachments in both the Doosan and Bobcat ranges. Following Adem’s speech, there was a clamour for further information and interest in the products, which kept us busy all night."

At the opening, PPCL had a wide variety of equipment on display that included two Doosan DX225LC crawler excavators, Bobcat S130, S300 and S650 skid-steer loaders and DX700 light compactors, G20 generators and 7/41 compressors from the Doosan Portable Power range.

A couple of days after the official opening, a ‘hands-on’ session took place with more than 50 operators attending, all of whom had taken the time on a Saturday morning to attend a joint presentation from Patrick Webb and Adem Urer.

Webb presented an innovative finance package designed to enable operators to become owners of their own skid-steer loaders with a small advance deposit, and hence giving them a route to being independent entrepreneurs in their own rights. In his speech, Urer emphasised the importance of operational safety when handling a Bobcat skid-steer loader on a work site.

Following the presentations, a contest took place to test the skills of the operators when handling a Bobcat skid-steer loader. The test involved five tennis balls sitting precariously on a small stand in the bucket on the loader and the aim of the game was, not only to keep all the balls on the stand, but also to travel along a special course designed by Doosan expert demonstrator, Patrick Mansard, who led the way by completing a perfect round without losing any balls and in a record time.

The best operator was Weissler Moineau from Dhiraj Earthmoving Contractors Company Ltd, which has a fleet of six Bobcat and two Doosan machines. Moineau earned the respect of his peers at the same time as taking the winner’s prize of a remote controlled model of a Bobcat compact tracked loader.

Dupuy concluded, “I truly believe that this was one of the best opening ceremonies I have had the privilege of attending and I would like to thank personally the owners of PPLC, Pierre Ah Sue, Patrick Webb and Charles Derblay for this achievement. I wish them all the best for the future, in selling Doosan and Bobcat products in Mauritius. Welcome to the Doosan Family.”