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| Arnd Franz, General Manager MAHLE Aftermarket. |
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MAHLE is programmed for growth. With products and services for all aspects of the combustion engine, our company achieved last year a worldwide sales revenue of five billion Euro, which is 17% more than in the preceding year. Important acquisitions such as that of the engine components business of Dana or the takeover of the air filter division of Siemens VDO have been crucial in this development, but so has the healthy organic growth of our established sites.
Our independent spare part business has also developed positively compared with the previous year and has increased by 32% to more than 600 million Euro in 2007. Acquisitions play also a significant role in the aftermarket in rounding off our product range and our sales channels. In addition to the acquisition of the Dana engine components business, other important projects have been the acquisitions of Promec (now MAHLE Componentes de Motores de México S. de R.L. de C.V.), the leading piston ring and cylinder liner supplier in Mexico, the takeover of the valve manufacturer Edival (now MAHLE Válvulas de Argentina S.A.) in Argentina and Tri-Ring (now MAHLE Tri-Ring Valve Train (Hubei) Co., Ltd.) in China as well as the majority acquisition of the piston and cylinder liner manufacturer Mopisan (now MAHLE Mopisan) in Turkey at the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, all these enterprises have become part of the worldwide MAHLE network and have made significant contributions to the further development of our product range for the independent spare part market.
This large number of activities demonstrates clearly that MAHLE opts for growth in the spare part business. Together with our partners in the trade, we endeavour to further develop our product programme according to the demands of the market, to assure optimum availability and to offer you a price-performance ratio that reflects both the original equipment quality of our products and the demands of the market.
On the topic of original equipment quality: MAHLE is firmly committed to its business policy of supplying the aftermarket according to the demands of the vehicle and engine manufacturers. This principle, also printed on all our packaging, is not only expressed verbally, but also tangible in our products. And when we offer special repair solutions, these will also conform to OE standards.
The leading position of MAHLE in the original equipment sector is not only demonstrated in our worldwide presence at all important vehicle and engine manufacturers, but also in the innovative strength of MAHLE. At the recent IAA in Frankfurt alone, MAHLE has presented 17 innovations that will contribute to making the combustion engine fit for the future. Essential factors are here emission and consumption reduction. We present a highlight to this topic on pages 8/9: the MAHLE downsizing engine as a technology demonstrator. You can find more about innovative MAHLE products at www.mahle.com.
We use this technological advantage also to the benefit of our customers in the aftermarket. Especially for recent engines, the complexity of components is increasing, as specific challenges are presented by direct injection systems, for instance. Due to our experience in original equipment, we are best prepared to face these challenges. Moreover, MAHLE Aftermarket meets the increasing demand for spare parts of the independent aftermarket for recent vehicles thanks to faster product introductions – especially after the block exemption regulations have come into force in Europe.
We shall be delighted with your success using MAHLE products and assure you of our support.
Please enjoy reading the MAHLE Aftermarket news!
Arnd Franz