The eigth and final STIHL Spring Roadshow took place yesterday at the Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline, introducing dealers to the company's latest products.
Dealers gathered at the STIHL Roadshow in Dunfermline yesterday
The Scottish event follows Roadshows at Merrist Wood College, Old Northamptonians RFC, Bicton College, Swansea Bay Golf Club, Chetwynd Deer Park, Pavilions of Harrogate and Myerscough College - allowing dealers from all the country to attend.
In a written introduction to the attending dealers STIHL GB md Robin Lennie said, "Over the next few months STIHL will launch a new series of Lithium-Ion powered garden tools - this time designed for smaller outdoor spaces. And for the first time we will be launching these at sub-£100 price points.
"This offer will give us the opportunity to attract new customers into your stores who perhaps previously considered STIHL to only be a professional brand or one that was judged to be out of their price range."
Yesterday in Dunfermline, Head of Marketing at STIHL GB Simon Hewitt reiterated to the audience that the company very much believe that cordless is going to be a big part of the future of servicing dealers, but also reassured them that "petrol is not going away."
Simon also reassured dealers that the company is very much loyal to their Approved Dealer network, despite looking to potentially sell the entry-level cordless products through non-traditional outlets. But again it was stressed that any new retailer has to meet stringent criteria and would absolutely never be large chain stores.
He also told the dealers that despite the Viking brand disappearing by 2019, by being merged into STIHL, in the short term the company would be aggressively marketing the Viking range and encouraged dealers to keep selling the products as proactively as they could. Support for Viking from the company will be ongoing.
The dealers then got a chance to get hands on with some new products with five stations set up showcasing different sets of equipment. Available to interact with for the dealers were Viking domestic walk-behind mowers, including battery powered units; larger Viking 6-Series mowers; Viking ride-ons; iMow robotic mowers; and the new STIHL Compact Cordless range,
For a taste of the events you can view a video of the first Roadshow which took place at Merrist Wood College by clicking here, and below are a few pictures taken in the blustery conditions in Dunfermline yesterday showing dealers trying out the products.
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Trying the Viking ride-ons
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Introducing Viking Battery domestic mowers
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The new cordless STIHL products
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Dealers got to try out all the products at the events
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Cordless hedgecutting