The opening of Ahern Chile

Snorkel and Xtreme Manufacturing have entered the Latin American market with the opening of Ahern Chile, a new sales and service provider based in Santiago.

Ahern Chile is the latest location in the Ahern International distribution group, which also includes Ahern Australia, Ahern Japan, Ahern Deutschland and Ahern Canada.

The Ahern International entities are focused on the distribution of Snorkel and Xtreme Manufacturing products, as well as the provision of spare parts and technical service.

Led by Brody McFarland, VP of sales for Latin America for Xtreme Manufacturing and Snorkel, Ahern Chile made its first entry into the Latin American market at ConExpo Latin America in October 2015, showcasing a range of Snorkel aerial work platforms and Xtreme telehandlers. Following a strong level of interest at the show, Brody appointed Nicolas Pacifico as regional general operations manager in December 2015. This was followed by the appointment of Andre Mendonca as regional sales manager for Argentina, and Carlos Vegar as parts manager.

In March 2016, Ahern Chile made its first product sale to local customer Metalmar and signed a lease on a facility located in a prominent position in Santiago city on Chile Route 5, which runs from the Peru border and is Chile's longest highway. The facility includes over 250 sqm of office space, as well as 2,000 sqm of workshop and warehouse space, including separate parts storage.

"Chile is the perfect location to establish our distribution for Latin America," says McFarland. "This is a stable market, with an open trade environment that makes it easy to do business. Our investment in this market has been very well received by customers so far, and we have many possibilities for expanding our business here into sectors beyond rental, including industrial and mining."