Yanmar appoints Prodist as distributor in Southern Africa

Prodist, a wholesale distribution company focused on the industrial, agriculture and hardware retail markets in Southern Africa, has been appointed an official distributor of the Yanmar diesel engine range.

Prodist is owned by the two largest agribusiness groups in South Africa, Senwes and Afgri as well as LRB, of which the Mica hardware group forms part. Prodist’s head office and distrubution center is in Kempton Park on the East Rand.

Yanmar, based in Japan and one of the largest manufacturers of diesel engines in the world, has for more than 50 years been a prominent brand in the South African market for air-cooled and water-cooled diesel engines. Yanmar still enjoys a local market leading position with the L-series air-cooled diesel engines and competes successfully in the market for the larger water-cooled machines with the acclaimed Yanmar TNV range.

Yanmar’s decision to appoint a second distributor for Southern Africa should be seen as a step to maintain and promote sustainable and stable support for the Yanmar product range in a vast region of strategic importance.

Prodist has access to extensive knowledge and experience in the diesel engine industry and more specific the Yanmar brand. Roy Oberholzer, associated with the brand for more than 20 years, and Hettie Liebenberg, dealing with power products and Yanmar in particular for over 6 years, are part of the separate power products division in Prodist. Availability of spare parts and technical support will add to Prodist’s ability to complement the brand and to service customers.