Perfect partners in Portugal
Portuguese dealer Moviter celebrates 30 years as a HCME partner with special event in Leiria.
In May, Moviter celebrated three decades of partnership with HCME at an event that brought together more than 400 customers and guests at the company's facilities in Leiria. A delegation from Hitachi attended the celebration, including the President of HCME, Takaharu Ikeda, two vice-presidents and several employees who work closely with the Moviter teams.
Catarina Vieira, CEO and shareholder of Moviter, said: “Hitachi is an important brand, which has allowed us to grow and qualify our business. We owe much of our success to Hitachi, but it is to our customers that we owe our existence. That is why this initiative was perfect, bringing the two together, in a celebration with our team.”
HCME President Takaharu Ikeda offered his congratulations to Moviter: “Thanks to the support and dedication of Moviter employees, we have been able to increase our market share in Portugal and reinforce our brand image. We are extremely proud of what we have achieved together with Moviter, and we look forward to continuing our profitable partnership for many years to come.”
“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved together with Moviter, and we look forward to continuing our profitable partnership for many years to come.”
Hitachi Construction Machinery Group President Takaharu Ikeda
The occasion gave Moviter an opportunity to introduce to customers its new after-sales service facilities – a strong investment by the company. The new building houses the team responsible for preparing and monitoring the equipment.
Moviter specialises in sales, rental and after-sales support of construction, mining and agricultural equipment. Based in Leiria, the company was originally established by founder José Ribeiro Vieira in 1989 as part of the Movicortes group. The dealership has gone from strength to strength since then and together with the headquarters in Leiria, centre of Portugal, the company has branches in Lisbon, Porto, Evora and Funchal (Madeira), as well as international locations in Angola (established 2008), Mozambique (established 2015), and most recently, Morocco and Guinea Conakry.
Today, Moviter has grown to more than 100 employees and remains one of the market leaders in Portugal for the sale of construction machinery. It has a committed base of regular customers and a continued, strong relationship with HCME. "We really felt that the power of Moviter’s organisation and the consistency of the Hitachi Construction Machinery brand could help the country’s industry to believe in machine reliability,” says Catarina Vieira, CEO and shareholder of Moviter.
These sentiments were reflected in the feedback from customers who attended the anniversary event. Many of them have been loyal to Moviter and HCM for many years and shared their positive experiences of working with both companies. Henrique Carvalho, of Amândio de Carvalho, said: “Hitachi is a brand that we know well and we have several models. The name Hitachi stands for efficiency and reliability, without any doubts.”
Manuel Pinheiro, of Parapedra, highlighted the reliable performance of his company’s fleet: “They are very strong machines. We have three now, some with 40,000 hours. So, I’m thinking about buying some more because I think that Hitachi excavators are excellent machines, better than the competition.”
Guests were entertained by live music, and impressive acrobatic and bike stunts, at Moviter and HCME’s 30th anniversary event. Gifts were also exchanged between Moviter and HCME personnel, highlighting the importance of their continued relationship.
Longstanding customer Antero Oliveira, of Matos e Neves, was highly complimentary about both HCM and Moviter: “For me, Hitachi is the best excavator in the market and Moviter has the best brands in the equipment construction market.” Ricardo Oliveira, also from Matos e Neves, added: “Moviter’s after-sales service is on a par with the quality of the brands, which allows us to have complete confidence in the equipment we buy.”
Another long-term customer, José Santos of M Dos Santos, agreed with the quality of the support he had received. “Moviter has good commercial support, good after-sales service, so we are very satisfied.” Moviter and HCME have created a solid foundation on which to build further success. President Takaharu Ikeda says: “The strong partnership between our two companies will certainly continue to prosper in the coming years. Thanks to the loyalty and commitment of the Moviter team – not only in Portugal, but also in Angola and Mozambique – the Hitachi Construction Machinery brand will continue to thrive.”
