By Normunds Avotiņš
Close-up of the Fabulous Car Additive’s Success Story
“Guess, which is the ideal market for our business? It is Ukraine!” says Jan Lammens, Regional Sales Coordinator of Wynn’s Belgium. He explains that the reasons for ideal business in particular market are the presence of low quality fuel and the number of old cars.
The fuel quality in Latvia is higher while the average age of the car fleet can easily compete with the anti-record of Ukraine. This means that there are a lot of opportunities for companies dealing with additives and other car chemicals of internal use. Continuous TV commercials on over-the-counter drugs and food supplements, interrupting the evening broadcasts regularly, those only proves that people in Latvia have trust in such products. And they are ready to pay for the miracle drugs probably increasing the lifespan chance to 120 years. Why should not it work when it gets to the cars? It has been practically proved that the number of additives, such as anti- paraffin solution for diesel, has positive effect on the lifetime of the vehicle.
The headquarters of Wynn’s Belgium, which is also their production plant, is located in the small Belgian town called Sint-Niklaas (you should be looking for the original name of the town for it is hardly possible to find it in the maps by its Latvian name). The building that hides behind the greeneries in the private house district is supposed to be called a factory, at least, because Wynn’s Belgium is a part of Illinois Tool Works Inc., a huge conglomerate with its sales reaching 18 billion dollars (nearly 10 billion lats). Nevertheless, the raw production solutions are supplied ready, leaving the stage of mixing and filling to be done by the factory. Almost the same way like many fuel companies make the ready mixture for their gas stations, while the manufacturing of biofuel or refining of oil is carried out elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Research and Development department at Wynn’s Belgium should be considered seriously.
The company has got the name after its American founder Chestien Wynn, who mixed his first bottle of Wynn’s Friction Proofing oil in his garden shed in 1939. The lubricant was filled in the glass bottles and sold to the neighbouring car drivers. At the time being, Wynn’s chemicals are sold in the most of the Europe, Africa, Middle East, Australia and the CIS markets.
Even the Bus Fleets Use It
There are dozens of different products, such as radiator stop-leaks, and even the AC cleaners made by Wynn’s. Though, the fuel additives make the most of the business. Such product as Wynn’s Supremium, one for petrol, and the other one for diesel, is the number one additive in the areas where the fuel quality is suspicious. In the markets of high humidity and prolonged winter season, such as Latvia for instance, there is major demand for products like Ice Proof for Diesel. According to Wynn’s
experts, it prevents the development of paraffin crystals in diesel during cold weather, even down to the level that is 20% lower than normally. However that may be, they do Ice Proof for Diesel even in bulk industrial volumes of 200 litres for use at bus and commercial vehicle fleets. Another additive of great importance and demand is Wynn’s Dry Fuel for eliminating the condensate from the tank filled with any liquid fuel. The newest member of the family is Wynn’s Fuel Biocide. It is a specific preparation for conquering contamination in a high volume fuel tanks, the ones used in sailboats, for instance.
Something for the Enthusiast
It is prohibited to take any pictures in the factory but one can easily smell kerosene that is used as an ingredient in fuel additives. Is that all for the aged car park of 15 years? Not at all! The additive manufacturers are forced to follow the latest trends in the industry. The modern cars have modern problems to be treated. Wynn’s has developed professional range of XP3 additives for such purpose. “We don’t sell the professional products to mass market as those are delivered directly to the garage chains, including the dealer workshops”, J.Lammens explains. Direct injection petrol engine is no more exotic these days but you should be trained professional to clean the injectors with the special Wynn’s chemical. EGR valve that stands for exhaust gas recirculation valve might sound as an obscure foreign word for many of us until the car starts losing its power and the garage mechanic surprises the car owner with a verdict worth hundreds of lats. Wynn’s has developed the special aerosols for cleaning EGR system in both petrol and diesel cars. And again, it is strictly recommended to follow the user instructions. To make it simple and safe, the purple Wynn’s bottle on shelf is dedicated to do a preventive job while the black flask is for professionals to be used when the indicator light on the dashboard is on.
Remedy for Filters
Regional Sales Coordinator of Wynn’s Belgium admits the fact that majority of the products cannot be called unique and have an analogue offered by competitors. Nevertheless, Belgians introduced an unprecedented new product last year – DPF Regenerator liquid. DPF stands for diesel particulate filter, which is located in one or two separate parts of the exhaust pipe. Its main purpose is to catch bits of soot delivered with exhaust gases, and regenerate itself periodically by burning the soot in high temperatures. The problem appears with regeneration stage that simply does not take place when the car is used mostly in the city traffic. It results in clogging of DPF and a headache to the car owner. There are not many options when it gets that far. One can buy a new filter for 700 to 1’500 lats (depending on the car model) or dismantle it. The last operation means spending some 200 lats on garage labour and reprogramming of the control unit. DPF Regenerator liquid has been tested by VAG garages in the Great Britain. As a result, even a filter with 88% blockage submitted to regeneration stage. “Comparing to similar products, our solution doesn’t form corrosion inside the filter”, J.Lammens takes pride in the test results. For the sake of
double security, Wynn’s has improved its range by adding Diesel Power 3 liquid for use with public buses. Its cerium technology helps to reduce the particle combustion temperature considerably.
