It’s five past twelve.”

It’s five past twelve.”

Automotive industry: Ms. Kresch, can Remus be called the world market leader?
Angelika Kresch:I don't like to talk about us in superlatives. We are a niche player and, as they say, we are the world market leader in that. We have several business areas: At Remus it is the aftersales area and OEM business in the motorcycle sector. At Sebring, the core is the OEM business in the passenger car sector. In the OEM area, however, we focus on the high-end segment; our customers include Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, McLaren, Bentley, Aston Martin, Lamborghini.

The path there was certainly not always easy.
No, not at all. In the fall of 2008 we were hit hard by the global economic crisis. From Friday to Monday – one weekend – our orders fell by 70 percent. At first our IT department thought it was a system error, but when we contacted our customers by phone, it became clear that it was really a case of cancellations. That was absolutely unpredictable and threatening to exist. Luckily we were able to fight our way through this depression. I said then that the recovery period would last until 2014. Unfortunately, I was almost right: it wasn't until 2013 that it was a halfway good year again, so it took a while until we swallowed this big chunk and digested it completely.

Remus is celebrating its 25th company anniversary this year. Would you have thought in 1990 that you would be where you are today?
No. Our business model was different. We planned with a maximum of 80 employees. We wanted to have a small, fine, family-based business where everyone knows everyone else. Back then I was still making a big noise: Never have a three-digit number of employees. But firstly it turns out differently and secondly than you think.

You currently employ around 640 people, are a major player in the automotive supply sector and a successful entrepreneur. Many local companies complain about Austria as a business location. What's going wrong?
Since the economic crisis in 2009, Austria has done a lot of wrong things, namely by “burying its head in the sand” and not wanting to change anything. Politics doesn't move at all. We fall behind in all rankings, increasingly lose touch and still do nothing. If you look at how many well-known industrial companies are moving their production sites from Austria, you will see that it is already five past twelve. And if the non-wage labor costs are then reduced by 0.1 percent (note: the print edition of KFZ Wirtschaft 11/2015 said “one percent”, but the correct answer is “0.1 percent as in the interview here), then I can’t even smile. We’re talking about seven or eight euros per employee. The unit labor costs that are quoted in Austria are not internationally competitive. Nobody pays that. That’s why we decided to spend a lot of money and build a factory Opening in Bosnia to produce labor-intensive parts there. We have an export share of 95 percent. That has nothing to do with maximizing profits, it's simply necessary to be competitive. I would have loved to stay entirely in Austria, but it's simply not feasible in international competition.

In Bosnia, people are certainly happy when a company like Remus comes…
People are perceived very differently in Bosnia, where politicians are trying to attract companies. Although there is no money for funding, they do their best on an administrative basis and provide appropriate assistance. It's just a different kind of appreciation.

Are there quality differences between Bosnian and Austrian production?
No, definitely not. As I said, we are currently only producing labor-intensive parts in Bosnia. We have trained the employees in Bosnia very well and they are also very willing to learn. We have very good skilled workers there.

Is this just a failure of politics or is it also to a certain extent that the migrating companies are to blame for ignoring the location?
Well, politicians have to create the framework conditions. If these are no longer true, as an entrepreneur you have to take the consequences. And if our unit labor costs have deteriorated so massively compared to Germany since 2009, then that is not the fault of the entrepreneurs, but rather that of politicians. And I already know that the Austrian location cannot compete with Asia. But if I can no longer keep up with Germany, then the hut will burn. And politicians still stand up and say that we are world export champions and that we are so great, without recognizing the signs of the times. Or politicians simply don’t want to recognize them – I don’t know.

Will this misery impact Austria as a business location in the future? Maybe the Austrian is already too full?
We are already in the middle of it. The unemployment rate is rising and rising. But it doesn't matter, let's just take on a few more debts, it doesn't matter. Someone will pay for it. Or not. We Austrians are fed up and the trained Austrian believes that the state will take care of him anyway. If things go differently, he is surprised. This is not good for society. At the same time, we lack skilled workers such as engineers, mechatronics engineers and welders.

Has it become more difficult to find good skilled workers in Austria over the last 25 years, or was that already a problem in the 1990s? How could this be remedied?
That was a problem back then too. But things are getting worse, and of course demographic developments also play a role. In any case, I could immediately hire 50 marketing people and 100 accountants. There are endless people in the area of ​​commercial professions and marketing and we would also have enough unskilled workers. But there is a real shortage of qualified technicians. On the part of the industry in Styria, of which I am the head of the division, we are trying to get more girls into technical professions. And we are partially successful in doing that, but still not enough in my opinion. On the other hand, we also try to ask AHS graduates whether they would like to do an apprenticeship after school, e.g. B. want to work as a mechatronics engineer. On the one hand, they benefit from a shortened apprenticeship period and, on the other hand, from higher apprentice compensation.

How is this offer received?
It's still difficult at the moment because we're only at the very beginning. We go to schools and present the model, but we currently don't have any qualified specialists trained in this way. As soon as the first ones have completed their apprenticeship and can therefore serve as best practice examples, it will certainly be easier because then the youth speaks to the youth. So we just have to keep working until the ball really gets rolling.

Does Remus himself also train apprentices?
Yes, of course. This makes us realize how much our education system is unfortunately failing. 25 years ago we had a test for our apprentices, which we have now had to adapt to the lower level in order to make it passable. Otherwise we would only have been frustrated. But we didn't ask any super difficult questions back then. Our society must and should strive for education to be the highest good and not to skimp on it. We are falling further and further behind in international comparison. What are politicians doing about it? Nothing. We sleep and watch.

And what about further training in the company?
We strive to offer continuing education opportunities. It will probably be the case in the future that some university training courses for employees will also have to be financially supported. We are already doing this to some extent, with the employee's corresponding commitment to the company. Of course, this is only possible if someone has the time resources to do it. People with families find it difficult to find this time, but it is easier for younger employees.

On the subject of research and development: At Remus, the R&D department is still based in Austria, right?
Yes, for us emigration in this area is not an issue at all, but it is a problem in general. Research and development is very important in Styria and accounts for four percent of GDP - a very good figure. However, it is problematic for a location if production is outsourced. Once this is gone, the research and development department will also move away more easily, as these two divisions are closely intertwined. Therefore, my great concern is that we will increasingly lose the R&D departments. And we won't be able to live by cutting each other's hair.

Let's get back to the car. In the wake of the so-called emissions scandal, it is said in the German media that the suppliers will pay the price. How do you see that?
It doesn't affect us because we supply sports exhaust systems for models that are not affected by it. In general, I don't think it's possible to push the suppliers' prices any further, as they've certainly already calculated extremely hard.

Keyword electromobility. Will Remus still be producing sports exhaust systems in 30 years?
We have developed a sound system for electric vehicles and we are looking forward to more electric mobility. At the moment the number of electric vehicles is still modest. I think in five to ten years we will also be making a lot of sales with electric vehicles, but petrol and diesel engines will not disappear from the world's roads any time soon because that is not possible from a purely logistical perspective. In ten or 15 years there will be a coexistence, but as our customers tell us, the gasoline engine will not disappear. Nevertheless, we continue to work on appropriate sound systems, but not with the highest priority.

Studies show that young people's interest in cars is becoming less and less. Is it even possible to sell a sports exhaust to this clientele?
Well, things have changed since the 1990s, that's quite clear, but it also depends on the target group. Particularly in the motorcycle sector, there are also mid-agers who are now buying motorcycles and upgrading them with all the accessories available because they couldn't afford them when they were young. And the demands on a sports exhaust have changed since the 80s and 90s. And the stricter the laws, i.e. the quieter the vehicles have to be, the more the end consumer thinks about hearing something. A vehicle will always be associated with sound. That's good for us. The number of vehicles sold to young people has of course decreased, absolutely true. But in terms of percentage, nothing has changed in our target group. The total number in Central Europe has decreased. Therefore, our aftersales focus is primarily on the USA and Asia.

How does Remus get there?
Very good. Especially in China. These markets don't even know our European regulations. They don't just want sound, they want sound plus. Both markets are very good for us.

The motorcycle market is very competitive, there are many suppliers of exhaust systems. It feels like there is more and more available when it comes to cars, especially in the affordable segment. What's the Remus strategy here?
We offer very high quality at a very good price and we will not move away from that. We won't make a cheap rail. That wouldn't be good for the brand and wouldn't be in line with our business model.

Can Remus grow even further in the future?
Yes, definitely. We have a lot of very good opportunities for expansion and we will tackle these step by step.

Finally, I would like to ask you how you imagine the Remus Sebring Group in 20 or 30 years. Who will then run the company? Their children? Will you find it difficult to let go?
The children have been with the company for a long time and are doing a very good job. I didn't expect it to be so smooth. My husband and I are in the process of handing it over piece by piece and we will then retire when the time comes. But there is no melancholy involved; rather, what dominates is the great joy that the children are doing so well. It probably works so well because, on the one hand, everyone has their own area of ​​responsibility and there are no overlaps and, on the other hand, we have no pressure, which is why this process can happen smoothly.