2020_ADN_V5_No3_web

RICARDO
MARTINEZ
continued...
GUÐMUNDUR EINAR
HALLDÓRSSON
In a normal year we get around 100
people through our training courses.
Since the pandemic started I have not
been doing any courses as I don’t want
to jeopardize the work at the workshop
if I got sick. We will hopefully start
again in the autumn.
What are some of the biggest
issues affecting vehicles over
there?
Iceland, as the name suggests, is quite
brutal when it comes to ice.
Volcanic ash is blowing around in
the atmosphere every day. It is super
fine and can easily scratch the surface
of a vehicle. We have massive winters
with a storm coming in at least once a
week -- sometimes we get seven storms
in seven days.
I am quite certain that we have a
world record in terms of salty roads,
causing lots of rust damage. Our road
system is terrible, with badly made
asphalt, lots of stone chips and a huge
tar problem.
How do you advertise your
services?
My philosophy is that a good job will
advertise itself, and a bad job will
destroy your company.
During a normal month for us we
have about 20 cars waitlisted, so we
don’t have to advertise too much. We
do all kinds of advertising on social
media. Facebook and Snapchat are
our biggest social media platforms.
We also do newspaper, radio and TV
advertisements.
What is your favorite
detailing tool and why?
This is a really hard question -- it’s like
asking me which of my cars I love the
most… After a long and hard thought I
think I would have to say sandpaper and
a rotary machine. Those two items have
gotten me to the place where I am today.
undercarriage pressure washing using an
electro-hydraulic 2-post lift capable of
lifting cars, trucks and even some minivans,
up to 10,000 pounds. Also, our
engine steam cleaning is in demand and
we detail cars and do some repairs and
repaint in partnership with a paint-shop.
We outsource PDR, window tinting and
car wrap with very good professionals.
Some retail customers have very
exclusive cars and need specialized
services… the kind of work these
customers give us is rewarding on the
financial and professional side. We are
always ready to take good care of our
dealers. When sales improve dealers
provide good work volume. We perform
basic one-step detailing, and sometimes
paint correction for showroom cars.
A few years ago, we took used car
dealership work, but paint correction in
these units takes too many man hours
and most of the time car dealers go
for the cheapest work instead of more
quality, so I decided to focus on new car
distributors. Working on new units takes
less working time, less cost in products,
pads, and we obtained quite a good
reputation as professionals working on
brand new vehicles.
The government does not detail
their units and our local county has their
own car wash facility and paint shop
(that is operated by my brother-in-law).
Nevertheless, working for the government
demands very strong financial
foundations as they are a very slow payer.
Car collectors have offered me big
opportunities as exclusive Car Clubs
always need a good detailer at hand and
this is a very profitable market niche.
Is there a big retail market
in Argentina for auto
detailing?
If we talk numbers, according to the
Argentinean Car Dealers Association
(ACARA), there are more than 14
million cars in Argentina with an overall
population of 45 million people. There
is a car for every 3.14 people. Last year
only 350,000 new units were sold, and
the average car is 11 years old. Even
during this bad economic time, detailing
shops are opening everywhere. On a
High-end units being detailed, White Mercedes Benz A250 AMG 2020
plus BMW X2 M 2020, this vehicles were coated with Sillica-based
Ceramic products.
good year Argentineans can purchase
1 million new units, so there is potential
for growth. Is important to add that we
are one of very few countries in Latin
America that have several factories,
therefore the automotive industry is very
important in Argentina.
Anyway, there’s a huge gap between
the USA and Latin America in terms
of the number of cars compared with
population. For example: The USA has
an average of 965 cars for every 1000
people, and that average is reduced to
265 cars for every 1000 in my country.
The flip side is the culture: There
is almost no DIY culture in Argentina
so most people like to have their cars
detailed by a professional. In some provinces
there’s a strong car-culture which
is mostly related to car manufacturing
and motorsports. For example: Cordoba
is the second city in population after
Buenos Aires, and important automotive
brands such as Fiat-Chrysler, Renault,
IVECO and Honda produce cars there.
Also, auto parts industries have their
factories here such as LEAR, and the
VW AG Group to mention a few.
Motorsports is an important activity
in this region; more than 50 professional
racing teams are located in Cordoba
and surrounding areas, they even have
a WRC Contest every year. Cordoba
is to Argentineans what Detroit if for
Americans, it is where our automotive
industry was born.
What are some of the
biggest problems you face
professionally?
I could name the lack of supply variety
such as DA polisher machines, accessories
and products as the number one
problem, but I wouldn’t say “only in
Argentina.” This is a problem for other
parts of South America, Chile, Uruguay,
Peru and Colombia.
Car prices and car sales have an
impact on detailing. Back in 2012 when
car sales were at a record high and the
high-end market was performing well,
detailing shops were full, and we were
booked even a few weeks ahead. With the
recession, inflation and this pandemic
most distributors and auto dealers are
struggling to survive. Our administration
locked down starting on March 18 with
an announcement of our president on
TV, I’m writing this on June 7 and this
has harmed our economy to the bone.
So, here comes our third problem:
The future. At this moment we can only
say that many
businesses are going to close. My particular
case is quite unique… I have very low
overhead, I own my property, my shop´s
property and work mostly on customer
facilities, so over the last five years I have
decreased my operating costs dramatically.
I even keep my transportation costs very
low by leaving a set of machines in my
corporate customer´s shop and I organize
workflow to optimize car usage. Keeping
costs low has not been a problem, but
more of a constant struggle.
Are there many suppliers of
detail products in
Argentina?
Supplies are sometimes hard to get.
Some brands, many to be honest, don’t
reach these regions. When it comes to
30 | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | VOL. 5, NO. 3 • FALL 2020