I know the Germans are famous for having neat production plants...but don't you think it's taking things a bit too far by lining up a set of wheels in their own little neatly marked-off bay all ready to fit to the trailer?

Anyway, not that long ago Biglorryblog mused on the continuing procession of truck and trailer makers into Eastern Europe in order to set up new (and presumably cheaper) assemply plants and production sites, not least to satisfy the exploding demand for new trucks and trailers. And in particular I mentioned Heil's shift from building tankers in the UK---to Poland. Well they've just been joined by German trailer maker Kögel which is setting up a new factory in Stargard Szcecinski, near Stettin in north Poland, close to the German/Polish border. The plant will have a capacity of 5,000 units per year. Which should help keep the equipment hungry East Europeans satisfied (at least for a while).

Moreover, during 2008 Kögel will also spend money on its main factory in Burtenbach, Germany in order to boost production by a further 25%. And it also plans to expand capacity at its site at Chocen in the Czech Republic too. Kögel's board of management chairman Alexander Tietje tells BLB: "This year we shall increase our production by around 60% to 32,000 units." However, by 2012 Kögel says it will be producing 60,000 vehicles annually at all its plants. That should give Schmitz something to think about wouldn't you say...?

So it's "Eastward Ho and away we go!" Meanwhile, read about Kögel's 2007 results...they're impressive.

Kögel Fahrzeugwerke says it "...can look back over the most successful financial year in the company's history.In the 2007 financial year just ended the business was able to record growth of 67%. Production was boosted from 12,000 units in 2006 to 20,000 units in 2007. After another improvement in results, the turnover reached the record mark of 462 million Euros." That compares with the previous year's record turnover of 280 million Euro..so pretty impressive growth I'd say.

"2007 has far exceeded our expectations" Tietje tells me: "The above-average conditions prevailing throughout the market have undoubtedly helped us here....despite a boost in production of almost 70% we could scarcely meet the enormous demand for our products!"

However, it seems that trailer makers are no better off than truck manufacturers when it comes to suffering ever-increasing delivery times. Indeed Tietje remarks: "Difficulties with deliveries from individual suppliers, in particular, have led to delays time and again throughout the year. Hopwever, thanks to investments in the development of the Europe-wide sales organisation, the company was able to tap into new markets while continuing to grow in existing ones. At the same time, the company was able to boost its export share again. This now sits at around 67%. Today, we're the second-largest importer in our product sectors in many important European export markets, such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Italy", adds Sales Director Andreas Berndmeyer. Even in the important future market of Russia, Kögel holds a leading role among trailer manufacturers.

Kögel also improved its position significantly in Germany selling 1,110 trailers on it shome turgf (more than the year before) "....thus improving our results by around 30%. As a result, Kögel was able to report the strongest growth of all the major German trailer manufacturers." It now holds an average 13.2% percent share in its market sectors over our product sectors. And Berndmeyer reckons:"With the rapid expansion of our production capacity and the appointment of additional suppliers for the critical components, the supply situation will be eased significantly this year."