Garanta's new man at the wheel

Garanta's new man at the wheel

It was definitely a shock that went through the insurance industry when it became known that Merkur Versicherung was taking over Nürnberger Versicherung AG Österreich in order to combine forces in the area of ​​personal insurance. Garanta Versicherungs-AG Österreich, a specialist for individual insurance solutions in the areas of motor vehicle, property and liability insurance, is not part of the deal and remains as a branch in the Nuremberger Deutschland group. However, it has a new boss: Heinz Steinbacher, as the main representative of Garanta Austria, is taking over the helm from Kurt Molterer, who held this position for a long time. Reason enough for an inaugural visit to the automotive industry. 
 

Mr. Steinbacher, congratulations on your new job. How did Mr. Molterer leave Garanta? 
Heinz Steinbacher: There are competition law reasons for that. Kurt Molterer is chairman of the board of Nürnberger Versicherung AG Austria and chief representative of Garanta Versicherungs-AG Austria. Of course, this is not possible under the new circumstances with different owners. But we are on good terms. 

Was it immediately clear to you that you would accept the new challenge, or was there a slight hesitation given the greater responsibility? 
No, I have been working in the company for 20 years and know the structures and the people involved very well. This ensures continuity. 
So not much will change apart from the personal details – your promotion and the fact that Stefan Traunmüller, previously authorized signatory and head of accounting, will be joining the management team? Nothing should actually change for our customers and partners; internally we have already adjusted the structures somewhat.

What does that mean specifically?
Above all, we have merged the three previously separate areas of product, communication and product development, public relations/marketing and academy into one department. 

How is business going at the moment?
As you can imagine, given the turmoil in the car market with delivery bottlenecks and corresponding declines in new registrations, the market environment is also challenging for us. But we were able to cushion this well through new collaborations, for example: B. gained a new partner in Hyundai in autumn 2021. And as an insurer, the decline in new registrations doesn't hit us quite as badly because the existing cars, which will now remain in stock for a longer period of time, also have to be insured. In any case, we are succeeding in one thing, even if the market is difficult: we are continuing to gain market share.

 
Where do you think the greatest growth potential lies?
On the one hand, there is an unbroken trend towards leasing and comprehensive insurance and also a general trend towards the one-stop shop concept, meaning that more and more customers want everything from a single source when buying a car, including insurance products. On the other hand, there are still enough importers and car dealers who are not yet cooperation partners. There is further potential in this too. And last, but not least, there is still a lot of potential for existing partners to focus more on the topic of insurance. It is important to raise awareness that it makes sense to sell our insurance services with the vehicles. 

To what extent?
Through insurance, customers are more closely tied to the car dealership and there is stronger customer contact. We have an enormous range of comprehensive insurance services. Since we cover the costs of repairs up to 100 percent damage, there are many repair options for dealers. In general, there's a lot involved in the workshop business, it's not just about selling cars. We see ourselves as a partner to car dealerships. 

They now also offer special insurance for the car dealerships themselves...
Yes, Garanta Special. This is insurance that is aimed primarily at small and medium-sized car dealerships. Here the entire vehicle warehouse, including the demonstration vehicles, is insured, for example against hail damage. And of course the car dealership itself. 

The car is increasingly becoming a data collector, and autonomous driving is also a big topic for the future. How will this affect the insurance industry?
It will take a longer time for truly autonomous driving in Europe, and there are still many delicate questions unanswered. But accidents and damage will always happen one way or another. As far as the data is concerned, it is first important to clarify who it belongs to – the car manufacturer or the customer. There is an EU initiative for the latter. 

And then the data could be made available to the insurer, who would then adjust the rates based on driving habits?
I see that less. I think the advantage is much greater when it comes to service. In the event of an accident, for example, the workshop is informed directly by Auto and the entire process is optimized and digitalized. 

Keyword digitalization: Garanta is also progressive here, right?
Absolutely. With us, car dealerships can, if they and of course their customers want, even have digital policies, i.e. design the entire closing process digitally. On the other hand, we also have a sales team that provides telephone advice. If the car salesman does not have any insurance experts in-house and does not have a business license, he can refer the customer to the sales team. 

Last question: What kind of car do you drive?
That's a good question and quite sensitive, since we have many brands as partners and don't want to give preference to any of them. For this reason I drive a BMW, because BMW is not a cooperation partner of ours.