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| Arnd Franz, General Manager MAHLE Aftermarket |
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For some years now, MAHLE has been involved in technologies of the future for turbocharged engines. At the IAA 2007 in Frankfurt, the first turbochargers developed by MAHLE were presented for petrol and diesel engines as well as a turbocharged complete engine as demonstrator for technologies of the future. With the establishment of Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems, MAHLE and Bosch, two of the leading system partners of the automotive industry combine now their manufacturing and development expertise in this joint venture for turbochargers.
Due to the increasing number of turbocharged vehicles, especially in the passenger car segment, the demand for turbochargers is also growing in the aftermarket. Since diesel engines without turbochargers have become hard to imagine and few naturally aspirated petrol engines are coming to the market anymore. Also for basic engine versions in all types of vehicles, turbochargers are now part of standard equipment.
Along with increasing popularity, the technical characteristics of the employed turbochargers have been fundamentally refined in recent years. The enormous thermodynamic demands on these products as well as their use over a steadily increasing speed range have resulted in solutions such as wastegate chargers or variable turbine geometry. Also the employed materials have advanced significantly.
The variable and sometimes tough conditions during vehicle operation result still in quite different life expectancies for turbochargers used today. Furthermore, lack of maintenance leads frequently to premature failure of sensitive turbocharger components when irregular oil and filter changes cause additional strain. Despite significant advances in turbocharger technology, the repair and replacement ratio remains therefore relatively high for an engine component.
At the same time, the majority of today’s – predominately new – exchange turbochargers are replaced by authorized repairers. This offers significant growth potentials for the independent aftermarket. MAHLE will therefore start to create a turbocharger programme in well-established MAHLE quality. This programme will benefit from the wealth of experience gained in our longstanding development work and the results of technical analyses in the repair business from all important world markets.
In order to assure lasting and professional repairs, our component range will be complimented by extensive information material and activities such as repair manuals, technical training and also the necessary complete mounting kits. Since the quality of filters is also very important for the lifespan of turbochargers – and because we are convinced of the quality of our product range – we offer an extended warranty when the turbochargers are used in conjunction with filters from MAHLE.
We are certain about this: With MAHLE turbochargers, our customers in trade and workshops are offered products with good growth opportunities that complement our current programme extremely well. Our teams in sales and technical service will be pleased to assist and help you with all your questions about MAHLE turbochargers.
The widening of our product portfolio is accompanied by continuous expansion in our logistics capabilities. After commissioning our regional warehouses for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Krotoszyn, 2006), for North, West and Central Africa (Poissy, 2007) as well as West and Central Asia (Izmir, 2008), we have significantly expanded our European central warehouse in Schorndorf in 2009 and have adapted it to the market requirements.
Our warehouse for filter products in Schorndorf has been enlarged by 4,000 square meters. In addition, a central shipment terminal has been created, in which joint shipments from the complete MAHLE Aftermarket range can be bundled into one shipment per delivery address. Furthermore, a large part of the complete pallet storage will take place in the newly built highbay warehouse in St. Michael /Austria with a total capacity of tens of thousands of storage places.
With these measures, MAHLE is adapting its logistics capacities to the expanded business volume and is expecting continuous growth in the aftermarket. Especially the logistics capabilities continue to be one of the most important advantages of the independent aftermarket. At the same time, they represent one of the greatest challenges. This is because the number of different spare part versions will continue to grow strongly – and also the pool of vehicles that needs to be serviced will continue to grow after the current crisis has been overcome. At MAHLE we are prepared for this.
Yours,
Arnd Franz