Continental AG: Kristjan Ambroz in an interview

Continental AG: Kristjan Ambroz in an interview

KFZ Wirtschaft: Mr. Ambroz, you have been managing director for around a year and a half now. What conclusion do you draw?
Kristjan Ambroz:I was fortunate to take over a well-established and well-functioning organization. We had a good financial year in 2016. Things have been satisfactory so far this year too.

How did the summer tire business go this year?
Essentially as expected, similar to last year.

What expectations were placed on you when you became managing director?
The first big surprise on the first day of work as managing director was the news of the insolvency of a significant market participant. Apart from that, we achieved goals and expectations.

Your personal goals?
My priority was the further development of the organization. So that even higher anniversaries can one day be celebrated, this year we are celebrating 111 years of Semperit. In addition: On August 1, 2017, authorized representative Karl Trummer took over the role of financial manager of the Austrian sales organization of Continental AG in addition to his role as head of controlling/credit management. For the first time we have an Austrian managing director who comes directly from Semperit. For me personally, it was important to ensure that we were able to fill every position internally, so to speak.

Are there any changes planned in the team?
Our team is generally extremely well positioned. We hire a lot of long-serving employees and staff turnover is low. The status quo is fine, and what is most important to me is that we continue to be a complete market organization. In other words, we optimally cover all significant channels and areas on site.

You have always emphasized that Semperit will always use all sales channels.
Yes, and it will stay that way. Because of our market position and also because of our long tradition. A strategy other than the all-channel strategy does not make sense for us.

What do you have in store for future challenges?
We have developed some future scenarios. These have the following points in common: The importance of vehicle fleets and fleets will continue to increase. For example, whether electromobility becomes fully established or not: the service intervals for automotive service, i.e. for internal combustion engines, will continue to increase. The maintenance effort for electric cars is significantly lower anyway. As far as the market environment is concerned, we do not expect any drastic changes. We see it as our task to support our sales partners in order to be able to successfully face the future together.

To what extent do you support tire retailers?
There is no one package, especially since we work with a wide variety of companies. Our approach is to develop a tailor-made solution for each of our sales partners. It's about advice, training measures, exchanging experiences or examining joint business models.

Does the classic tire retailer have a future?
Basically yes. It is still an extremely strong distribution channel. There is no reason why tire retailers should lose their important role in optimally preparing for the future. I think it is unlikely that the traditional tire retailer will look the same in ten years as it does today.

What will he look like? More service?
There will hardly be a model that works statically over long periods of time. One variant is: much more service related to tires or automotive service. I would like to emphasize that car service is not the ultimate solution for every company. Another variant is: specialization. Whether it's the agricultural sector or whether it's EM tires (earth-moving tires; editor's note), there are numerous niches. Apart from that, there will be companies that will increasingly specialize regionally. Others will streamline their structures.

Will Semperit still play a role as a brand in ten or 15 years?
We have an extremely high level of recognition among people over 40. Now our challenge is to ensure that younger people can also relate to the brand.

This year they are celebrating 111 years of Semperit. For who other than your own workforce is such an anniversary important?
Our B2B customers, who have walked a long journey with us, are interested. Our big anniversary event in Schladming with our customers was a great success. It is also important for end consumers to know that the brand has a long tradition and has always been a pioneer, especially when it comes to winter tires, since 1936. However, we do not assume that celebrating an anniversary is enough to position the Semperit brand for the future. We will launch further activities there.

Internet as a sales channel is still in the single digits. Will it stay that way?
We cannot assume that the Internet will remain in the single digits. This segment will continue to grow, also in Austria. Here Austria lags behind compared to other countries. The simple fact is that there are people who don't want to chat with the seller about the technical characteristics of the tire. For these people, the tire is a low-interest product where only the price-performance ratio counts.

“I think it is unlikely that the classic tire retailer will still look the same in ten years as it does today.”KRISTJAN AMBROZ, CEO CONTINENTAL AG