Xeramic
O T Y D A RE
E L K R SPA
Xeramic may be a new brand of motorcycle care and maintenance products in the UK but in its home country of the Netherlands it will be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary next year
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etromark Automotive Chemicals BV was originally formed in 1992 to produce automotive fuel and oil additives which it still does under the Petromark brand. Xeramic was launched two years later at the Frankfurt Automechanika Trade Fair. “At the time,” says company CEO Ton Koebolt, “we were the first in the world to introduce an oil additive based on ceramic material. At that time Slick50 was the most popular product. I didn’t want to name such a high-tech product Petromark so that was the beginning of Xeramic. I wanted to make it look different so for the trade fair the bottle was put in a presentation box making it look more like a bottle of brandy.” We all know how important presentation is when it comes to new products. It wasn’t long before the Xeramic motorcycle range was established, borrowing and fine tuning some of the automotive products and developing motorcycle-specific items like chain lube. All product development is done in house by liaising directly with the relevant additive manufacturers.
In other markets the workshop angle has worked well where the service manager tells the customer that the bike has been given a complementary treatment of Xeramic Injector Cleaner
40
JULY 2021
Modern fuels will begin to degrade after 8-12 weeks and will leave deposits in carburettors and injectors Fuel additives are becoming ever-more relevant and popular as the composition of modern fuels alter to accommodate the global petrochemical industry’s greenwashing. As Koebolt explains, modern fuels will begin to degrade after 8-12 weeks and will leave deposits in carburettors and injectors as well as other places. This is more relevant in northern European countries where leisure riding tends to be abandoned over the winter months. Xeramic is the best-selling brand in its domestic market, as well as in Spain. It is also a supplier to Yamalube and other own-label suppliers. When asked where would he pitch Xeramic in the marketplace, Koebolt replied, “The whole range is high quality and pricewise our products are in the middle. Our motto is always high quality for an acceptable price. This applies to our automotive side as well
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