Top of the range in functional design Mont Blanc

TOP OF THE RANGE IN FUNCTIONAL DESIGN

Mont Blanc is a European market leader in the design and manufacture of load-carrying systems for passenger cars. Philip Yorke talked to Mikael Frolander, the company’s CEO about its latest innovative products and its move into new markets.

The Mont Blanc Group was founded in Sweden in 1947 and today consists of four wholly owned affiliate companies located in Sweden, the UK, France and Romania. The company specialises in the design and manufacture of high-quality load carrying equipment for passenger cars, and is the clear technology leader in Europe. Mont Blanc’s product portfolio includes roof bars, bike carriers, roof boxes, ski racks, canoe racks and dog guards. At its three major production facilities in Sweden, France and Romania, the company employs more than 200 people and in 2012 recorded sales of over €36 million.

Innovation and functionality driving sales

Innovation, safety and functionality have always been a priority at Mont Blanc and it has consistently stood by its belief that designing a product to fit a specific demand is more important than embarking on a highvolume manufacturing approach. Environmental considerations are also paramount at the company, which strives to minimise its impact on the environment with the help of an active and carefully considered approach to its production processes and raw materials. This commitment covers all aspects of the company’s business activities.

Reliability and safety are other key considerations for Mont Blanc, and therefore its products are designed to withstand the heavy duty use that they are put to, whether it is for roof bars, roof boxes or cycle carriers. Every single product that leaves Mont Blanc’s premises is developed and constructed to suit its customer’s needs and to do the job for which it was designed perfectly. The company takes great pride in delivering high-quality products that meet the strict standards that Mont Blanc has always adhered to.

Expanding into new market areas

The company’s vision is that anyone who has ever experienced a Mont Blanc product will never look for anything else. Furthermore, that by listening to its potential customers it can supply the optimal load-carrying products that are built to meet their specific needs. In addition the company is committed to ensuring that its products are “easy to get, easy to understand and easy to use”.

Mr Frolander said, “We are constantly developing and upgrading our product portfolio and we need to do this not only to stay ahead of the game both practically and technologically, but also because new cars are coming onto the market every day and we therefore need to ensure that our products are optimised to meet the new car specifications. This is particularly true of our roof bars which today represent around 40 per cent of our turnover and in this sector we also sell direct to the car manufacturers, as well as to major retail outlets such as Halfords in the UK, where our products are sold under the Halfords brand label. All our R&D is conducted in-house and we have recently launched a new roof box that can be fitted and removed in less than five minutes.

“In Romania we have built a state-of-theart facility in the Transylvania area which extends to more than 10,000m2. Here much of our manufacturing assembly is handfinished and tested to guarantee the highest possible standards, but much of our component’s production is fully automated. We are very strong in our traditional markets such as the UK, France and the Nordic region, but we are now extending our presence in the growing eastern European markets, such as Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

“We would like to be better represented in Germany, which is the largest market in Europe for us, but this is a more long-term objective. Another strong growth area for us is the internet, where our customers can order direct and receive their products within

PLASTUNION IS ONE OF SCANDINAVIA’S LEADING MANUFACTURERS OF INJECTION MOULDING THERMO PLASTIC COMPONENTS.

Liljenberg YOUR SOURCING PARTNER

Casting Machining Stamping Sintering Series of 10k - 1,5M

Plastunion AB • Box 223 • SE-334 24 Anderstorp Phone: +46-371-190 00 • Fax: +46-371-175 81 E-mail: info@plastunion.se • www.plastunion.se

Hammargatan 11B, Vellinge, Sweden info@liljenberg.se - www.liljenberg.se

48 hours of placing their order or simply see our catalogue and visit their local retailer. This trend towards internet shopping is helping our sales across our product portfolio and we expect to see growth of around 15–20 per cent in this area this year.

“Our biggest competitor is Thule of Sweden, but for the last two years we have been conducting consumer focus groups and looking at the market more from the consumer side of things. As a result we are now producing roof bars and bicycle carriers that can be assembled without any tools and even without the need for instructions. Therefore all our products are now pre-assembled and ready to fit efficiently and safely. We like to keep it simple – and so do our customers.”

Brand new product range

Mont Blanc recently launched a brand new range of high-quality load-carrier systems that are now available all over Europe, and these can be found online or at any local car accessories retailer. The company’s products all have a unique and functional design that will fit a car, bike and a boat, but above all, they also fit the needs of the consumer. Among the latest products from Mont Blanc is its Ready-Fit Alu Roof Bar. This smart pair of fully assembled aluminium roof bars comes ready to fit straight from the box with no tools required, and they include four locks with matching keys. Another all-new product is the company’s RearTrail multi-bike carrier, which can transport up to three bikes at once secured to the car’s boot or tailgate. These use high-strength fabric straps for versatile fitment and a rubber frame that holds the bikes firmly in place. In addition, strategically located rubber pads fully protect the car’s paintwork. n

For further details on these and other designer load-carrying products from Mont Blanc visit: www.montblancgroup.com