From the Model T to space flight, PMF speaks to Arijit Chatterjee, General Manager – Business Development of Veedol distributor Granville Oil & Chemicals, to investigate the reemergence of the iconic lubricant brand and its plans for UK distribution in 2017.
Veedol is considered quite an iconic brand in the world of lubricants and was the brand of choice for the world’s first mass produced car, the Model T Ford, as early as 1914. It was used for the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean in 1931 in a monoplane named ‘Miss Veedol’. It was also the lubricant of choice for the Columbia space shuttle flight in 1979.
Present on both sides of the Atlantic over the years, Veedol has been part of companies like Getty Oil and Burmah Castol. In October 2011, the India based Tide Water Oil Co. purchased the Veedol brand from BP plc. The company says it is now working towards making the brand widely available again and bringing it back to the ‘glory days’.
The company operates through three companies in Europe including: Veedol International B.V. at Amsterdam, Veedol Deutschland GmbH for the DACH region and, most recently, Granville Oils & Chemicals at Rotherham in the UK.
True to its heritage, Veedol stays strongly focused on quality and has as many as 60 official approvals for its products from vehicle manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volkswagen group, Volvo, MAN and Renault.
Q. Why is 2017 such a big year for the company? What are your plans?
Arijit Chatterjee (AC): “2017 is a very exciting year for us. It starts with the launch of Veedol products in the UK. Thanks to Granville Oils & Chemicals joining the Veedol group in April 2016, we now have access to many new customers and distribution channels in the UK. We hope to capitalise on this in a big way over the year.
“Another opportunity for us is to use the Veedol distribution network in Europe and elsewhere to make available Granville Car Care products, which are already well established today in the UK and Ireland. Additionally, we plan to expand and integrate the Granville lubricant manufacturing facilities with the Veedol network going forward.”
Q. What are the key Veedol products factors should know about?
AC: “We are introducing the most popular Veedol sub-brands, like Sintron and Powertron, for cars in the UK. Sintron Long Life III 5W-30 carries the approvals VW 504.00/507.00, MB 229.51, BMW LL-04
and Porsche C30.
“Sintron C3 5W-30 will very likely be a popular choice for those requiring C3 products with MB 229.51, MB 229.52, VW 502.00/505.00/505.0, BM LL-04 approvals as well as Dexos2. We expect Powertron Ultra 5W-40 to be the all-rounder with approvals from the German auto majors and also meeting the requirements of a wide range of OEMs like Ford, GM, Fiat, Renault, etc.”
Q. How has the motor oil market developed in recent times?
AC: “We are seeing a number of trends. There is of course a move towards lower viscosity oils with the introduction of grades like, 0W-20 and 0W-16. SAE 8, 12 and 16 were added very recently as an answer to the need for thinner and thinner oils. A lower viscosity means less friction; less friction means less fuel consumption and less fuel consumption means less emissions. And in many countries less emissions means fewer taxes!
“We also see the demand for synthetic oils in viscometrics, like 5W-30 and 5W-40, rising and this has resulted in supply and cost pressures in raw materials like PAO (polyalphaolefin).”
Q What is Veedol doing to remain competitive?
AC: “Veedol is staying up-to-date with the latest specifications of engine oils. To give an example, we have introduced our Sintron J 0W-16 oil in Germany which caters to some of the latest Japanese vehicles. We hope to distribute this in the UK in due course. We are also working on oils meeting the newest BMW LL12 FE and VW 508.00/509.00 specifications.
“With Veedol distribution happening through our company Granville Oils in the UK, we are confident that we will hugely benefit from the Granville standards which are 97%+ availability and dispatch within 48 hours.”
