Goldoni Family Values

Goldoni Family Values

By Laurence Gale MSc

Italians are world renowned for their engineering skills; you only have to think of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, market leaders in the field of sports car production. In recent years, their tractor manufacturing industry has begun to establish the same sort of reputation.

The Italian farming machinery industry and, above all that of tractors, is a major player on the world stage. Their overall production of farming machinery is now worth almost €7 billion per year, over half of which is realised from foreign markets.

This growth in manufacturing began straight after the second world war when millions of farm workers left their industry to move to the cities. Out in the fields, to compensate for the worker shortage, more machinery and tractors were needed. A few of the companies already working in the sector managed to respond to this growing demand. The fact that in 1945 there were 52,000 tractors in Italy, in 2000 that had become 1,750,000, is indicative of this is.



One of these tractor manufacturers, Goldoni, has been trading since 1926, and the factory is still owned and managed by members of the family.

Last week a group of UK agricultural and sports turf machinery dealers and members of the press were invited to see the latest products being manufactured at their factory in Northern Italy. The headquarters and factory are located in Migliarina di Carpi, near Bologna. The complex covers an area of 130,000 sq m2 and they employ about 400 staff.

We were met at the factory by Claudio Goldini, one of the company directors who, along with his staff made us feel very welcome. The visit was organised by BSG Supplies Limited who are the UK sole distributor of Goldoni products.

A number of dealers from around the UK were invited to see for themselves the level of investment and research being undertaken by Goldoni.

The annual production capacity is almost 13,000 units: vineyard and orchard tractors, articulated and rigid equal wheel tractors, utility vehicles, crawlers, motorcultivators and motormowers, representing an annual turnover of around 90 million Euros. Exports account for 50% of the sales.

During our visit, Claudio was keen to promote the company philosophy of Tecnologia per Passione (Passion for Technology), as demonstrated by their extensive range of 30 plus tractor and utility vehicles available for sale.

The tractor units come in equal wheel and traditional wheel formats, and are reputed to be the most stable on the market with their low ground chassis and axle weight configurations.

Claudio showed us around the new Research and Development facility, which housed a number of testing benches and offices where the latest CAD systems were in use for new designs.

This year has seen the development of new products that could be of interest to the UK market. The latest is a mid range tractor, the New ASTER range, 35, 40 and 45 HP models which are aimed at the golf and sportsground markets.

In addition they are introducing the Transcar range of utility vehicles that offer 6 different power ranges and crew cab/trailer configurations. These transcars not only provide effective transport, but the tipping trailer is capable of carrying up to 3000 Kgs and has a three way tipping facility. There are the added options of having a three-point linkage and PTO drive mounted on the rear, making it a very adaptable vehicle.

BSG Supplies Ltd have been working with and selling Goldoni products for over ten years and are well aware of the build quality and performance and, together with the choice available and exceptional after sales service, are what impresses director David Parsons.

This quality was evident when we where shown around the spare parts and stock control areas of the factory. Goldoni can boast that they have over 180,000 spare parts in stock at any one time and, even more incredible, that there are well over 800 complete tractor and machine units held at the factory ready to go world wide with just a few hours notice.

Most of their engines come from Lombardini, the famous Italian engine manufacturer, who is conveniently situated a few miles away from the Goldoni factory.

Having spent three days with Claudio and his dedicated staff, seeing and hearing their commitment to quality and innovation, it will not be a surprise if the name of Goldoni becomes very familiar in the years to come.

Photographs of the tour of the Goldoni Factory.

Research and Development	Lombardini Engines
Production Line	Inspecting the Products
Tractor Stock Outdoors	Tractor Stock Indoors
Spare Parts	Transcar Tipping Trailer
Aster Mid Range 35,40 and 45 Hp Tractors	Range of Goldoni Tractors