International Dealer News IDN 115 Oct/Nov 2013 | Page 40

news ROOM INTERMOT 2014 KOELNMESSE has released its exhibitor prospectus for next year’s INTERMOT expo (the ‘Cologne’ Show), with the dates confirmed as October 1st – 5th, with Tuesday 30th September as the press day. Being branded as the International Motorcycle, Scooter and E-Bike fair, INTERMOT is promising further enhancement to its dealer/trade Business-to-Business (B2B) facilities and services with an expanded “business district” and exclusive invitational programme for international importers/distributors. In 2012, INTERMOT say they attracted over 203,000 visitors from 117 countries to see 1,022 companies from 37 countries present 1,437 brands, and see more than 200 events, taking some 18,000 test rides. Research suggests that 76 percent of INTERMOT’s trade visitors said that they had “achieved the objectives of their visit”, with 82 percent of visiting consumers equally satisfied with their for 2014 promises even higher investment in consumer attractions such as races, test-tracks and stunt shows, with speciality indoor exhibition zones highlighting motorcycle sport, customizing and touring. exhibition experience. Described by Jürgen Naue, Managing Director of Kawasaki in Germany, as a “real driver for the entire industry”, the expo programme Full exhibitor, visitor and schedule details (plus newsletter sign-up) are available at: www.intermot-cologne.com Suomy to relocate production following sale ITALIAN helmet manufacturer Suomy has announced plans to relocate manufacturing to Hong Kong. The brand, whose helmets have been worn by race champions such as Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss, has been bought by a private hedge fund, which now has ownership for all the world except for the ski, bicycle and horse market. The management remains the same and the head office remains in Italy at Lurago d’Erba (CO). The investment in the brand is expected to see the Suomy name reappear in high level motorcycle racing, as well as increase and speed-up development of the present product range, with a view to being able to extend the brand to cover the whole motorcycle market. Schuberth has new owner MAGDEBURG, Germany based helmet manufacturer Schuberth has new ownership, with the Munich and Guernsey based Perusa Fund acquiring a majority stake from the former owner, an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), a privately owned Philadelphia based investment and trading group SIG retains a minority stake in Schuberth. Perusa, also a privately owned “portfolio” investment fund, was founded in 2007 to make what it describes long-term investments that “stand for capital and substance”. Dr. Hanno Schmidt-Gothan, Managing Director of Perusa GmbH, and an adviser to the Perusa 2 Fund that has undertaken the investment, said that “Schuberth is a technologically strong company with a long history in head protection [Schuberth was founded in 1922 and introduced its first motorcycle helmet in 1954]. We believe that the Perusa approach [to ownership] of active involvement in the growth and development of portfolio companies will benefit Schuberth in every way from internationalisation and innovation to productivity improvements and financing structure.” Both Schuberth and their new owners are clearly looking to the future, and in particular at how the brand can apply its “Made in Germany” engineering pedigree to growth opportunities in 'emerging' international markets with “further SUOMY Lurago d’Erba (CO), ITALY Tel. [phone] [email protected] www.suomy.com optimisation” of their “ultra modern production processes” and expansion of “our technological competitive edge” as clear priorities given their objectives. Peter Heine, COO at Schuberth GmbH, said that “to be able to prevail in international competition as a German company, particularly when up against mass production in Asian low-wage countries, requires absolutely top-class quality. In this respect Schuberth occupies a unique key position. In collaboration with Perusa we are now creating a stable framework that will enable us to implement our lon g-term growth strategy rigorously.” www.schuberth.com