POLISH COMPANY - INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION

Polish automotive spare parts market leader is planning strong expansion in the country and abroad - till 2020 the Company wants to launch over 370 new branches.


In 1990 a graduate of Catholic Academy Theology — Krzysztof Oleksowicz, together with Piotr Oleksowicz and Andrzej Oliszewski set up a Company called Inter Cars. Though it was a small company - four employees and one outlet in Warsaw, from the very beginning it has had huge ambitions: to become a market leader. Six years later it left behind the biggest companies in this industry in the country.


— Now, after 26 years of activity, Inter Cars is the biggest distributor of automotive spare parts for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and trucks in Central and Eastern Europe — assures Robert Kierzek, CEO of Inter Cars.


Under one roof

Today the distribution system of Inter Cars consists of 216 branches in Poland and double that much abroad. And exactly the foreign branches are driving the development of the Company. Export share in total sales of Inter Cars last year was on the level of 38 per cent, and this year it can grow up to even 40 per cent. The most important customer of Inter Cars are surely independent automotive garages, accounting for approximately 70% of its turnover. Besides spare parts for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and trucks, the Company also deals in trading tyres, spare parts for after-crash repairs, spare parts for motorcycles and garage equipment. It is also owner of two companies: Lauber, dealing in remanufacturing of automotive spare parts, and Feber, manufacturer of trailers and semi-trailers. Moreover the Company also owns a nationwide garage chain: Q-Service, Q-Service Premium, Perfect Service, Q-Service Truck and Q-Service Moto. In total it associates around 1 thousand garages.


Inter Cars operates in the concept called "One-Stop-Shop", that is everything in one place. - Besides wide range of products we also provide technical trainings. We can also offer delivery of modern technological solutions, investment financing, business support, e.g. vehicle leasing, and also legal support. We also run proecological activities: within Bio Service project, we not only educate automotive garages, but also help them in dangerous waste disposal and recycling. We also provide energy audits - list representatives of Inter Cars.


In 2004 the Company recorded its first billion PLN revenue, and in 2011 it recorded EUR 100mio revenue in subsidiaries. During that time the Company went public on WSE in 2004. Ten years later it received the title of Stock Exchange Company of the Year 2013.


Good perspectives

From the very beginning the Company did not want to follow trends, but to set them. E.g. in 1998 it launched Q-Service, the first in Poland organization which associates independent automotive garages, that keep their own identity although being a part of a chain.


Its continuation was Q-Service Motor Sport — the first nationwide tuning chain. Whilst in 2000, as the first company in Poland, it introduced its own electronic catalogue of spare parts to the market (IC Katalog). A year later it organized Inter Cars Motor Show, the first in Poland B2B automotive trade fair. It was also a pioneer in implementing professional points system for its customers (IC Premia).


Previous successes do not stop it from realizing other ambitious plans: At the beginning of the following year it shall open the ILS European Logistics and Development Centre in Zakroczym, which will be the biggest logistics centre in automotive industry in Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover it is getting ready for further expansion in Poland and abroad, where by 2020 it is planning to open all together 374 new branches.


— Currently we are estimating the share of Inter Cars on domestic market of automotive running parts for passenger cars to be at about 20 per cent. We want this share to continue growing. We are focussing on sales, not leaving too much price space for the competitors. We want to take the most of our advantage - emphasises Robert Kierzek. The Company looks optimistically into the future. It estimates that over the next 10 - 15 years Central Europe countries will keep high growth of distribution, following western countries.


— In line with estimates of Samar Company, this year there will be probably over 1 million used cars imported to our country. The sales of new vehicles is also growing, and in the future it will result in further demand for running and spare parts, influencing increase of turnover of automotive distributors. There are also more and more commercial vehicles. Also our business is influenced by such matters as fuel prices. The cheaper it is, the more we drive, the higher mileage the cars have, the more maintenance and repairs are needed - explains the CEO of Inter Cars.



source: pulsbiznesu.pb.pl
10.10.2016

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