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It's right thir time for Kil el
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Finding the right partner in trailer manufacturing is a bit like marriage... You can't guarantee to get it right first time. German trailer maker Kogel has had more than one attempt to tie-up with the right UK collaborator—but with Don-Bur it seems to have finally found its soul-mate. Brian Weatherley reports.
I Visitors wandering around the recent :ommercial Vehicle Show will probably ave spotted German trailer maker KOgel lisplaying its wares. They may also have oticed Kogel's proximity to the stand ccupied by UK trailer specialist Don-Bur iut they may not have realised just how lose the two companies have become.
Last month Kbgel declared that it was etting up a new UK subsidiary, and that toke-on-Trent-based Don-Bur would be s "system partner". The make-up of lat partnership is straightforward: Ogel (UK) is jointly owned with Kogel holding a controlling 76% stake while Don-Bur has 24%. The partnership's task is simple: Initially, to build and sell Kogel products in the UK with varying degrees of manufacturing and marketing input from Don-Bur. However, ultimately Kogel (UK) is aiming to create its own manufacturing site but still close to Don-Bur's Stoke operation.
Sales partner
CM readers blessed with a good memory will no doubt be saying: "But doesn't KOgel already have a sales partner in the UK?" It did—until recently Utility International was offering ' But now, according to Kogel export sales executive Dietmar Beumer, the German trailer maker has finally found the right partner. Why Don-Bur? Beumer emphasises the company's no-nonsense boss Don Burton as one of the key deciding factors: "He's a man of his word. When he says yes he doesn't mean no. And when he says something will happen, it happens!" Burton's willingness to make things happen has no doubt been influenced by the decision to establish a prooer UK subsidiary Right now exchange rates are helping Kogel to return to the UK, but Beumer insists: "We've decided to stay in the market. We've taken the risk. It's too big a market to step into and out of again." More significantly, he believes: "UK operators are much more open to German products now than in 1995." Just how well do the two companies "fit" together? Beumer reckons that DonBur's specialist portfolio, which includes its double-deck busi ness, was missing a number of key elE ments, not least a reefer and, in partici: lar, a low-price fleet curtainsiderpoint confirmed by Don-Bur's Joh Massey: "It's left a gap at the bottom c our product range where we couldn' compete." When CM spoke to Don Burton a the CV Show the conversation turned b the likely name of the jointly-produce( curtainsider. "Valu Master" is current!: the front runner. Sales target Beumer is setting an ambitious sales tar get for the company's first full year: "Ai many as possible! There's no limit bu there are some targets. If we ge between 3-400 units it will be a vet) good aim—and we could probably dou ble that in year two." And just in case UK manufacturers think KOgelt sales target is a tad opti. mistic, they might reflect on the fact thal in 2001 it sold 23,000 trailers and bodies on the Continent, making it number two in trailers behind that other German powerhouse, Schmitz (CM28 March-3 April). That's enough to make any UK trailer maker think twice—or even three times. Kite! UK product line-up KOgel will initially be offering a trio of products for the UK market via its subsidiary. • The mainstay will be a competitively priced, fleet-spec curtainsider using its own chassis and Don-Bur bodywork. It will be sold as the DonBur Vaiu Master. The original German chassis has been redesigned to meet UK conditions with a 15-tonne kingpin, 1,250mm coupling height and 81m wheelbase for 44-tonne operations. It will come with dtscbraked BPW axles. Don-Bur will supply a fixed alloy roof and curtainsider body at its Stoke plant. • For international operators who want the typical 4m-high Continental-spec curtainsider KOgel (UK) will also offer a Furoliner Which will be finally assembled by Don-Bur. • The third string is a fully-built-up FuroCooler reefer. At the recent NEC Show lOgel exhibited its SVKT24 version which is claimed to be the lightest on the UK with a kerbweight of just 7,000kg without the fridge. II IWO chassis have a KU zinc-phosphate coating which allows it to offer a two-year guarantee on the complete trailer and a six-year warranty (or one millfon kilometres) against corrosion on all KIL parts. II For the future Beumer reports that KOgel wants to bring in boxvans and tipping trailers which could be launched in a year's time and, ultimately, rigid bodywork.