10.07.2015

German move for Kobelco Cranes

Kobelco Cranes has opened an office in Frankfurt and appointed Martin Seibert as market development manager for Germany, in order to expand sales of the company’s crawler cranes in the local market.

Seibert joins the company after 12 years with Terex Cranes, most recently in Germany, where he was a sales representative. He began his crane career with Terex Demag - as it was then –as a project co-ordinator at the company’s Zweibrücken plant. He moved to Dubai in 2006, joining Terex Middle East in a similar role, and then in 2009 was promoted to sales manager for the ‘Rest of the World’ – principally India, based back in Zweibrücken. In 2011 he moved to India, joining Terex India as sales & service director moving back to Germany in 2013.
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Martin Seibert

Siebert will be one member of a four man Kobelco Cranes team working in Germany, headed by Tokihiko Mizuta, the other two are Naomi Yodo and Ryusuke Yamagido.
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The Kobelco Cranes Germany team: (L-R) Martin Seibert, Naomi Yodo, Tokihiko Mizuta and Ryusuke Yamagido

Vertikal Comment

Kobelco sells a respectable portion of its production outside of its home market in Japan, but its coverage is patchy to say the least. It has been strong in the Benelux area, the UK, and North America, along with a number of other markets in particular the Middle East and Asia. But until now has virtually no presence in Germany - a market contested by strong domestic players, such as Terex, Liebherr and Sennebogen. With such formidable competition, it has understandably focused its attentions elsewhere - until now.

It has a lot of work to do to build brand awareness in Germany and persuade conservative German buyers to try something new. The product is very good and will be appreciated by those who do choose to stray from local brands. But it is going to take persistence and a focus on the longer term if it is to make a real impression on the market. That is something that Kobelco - like most Japanese producers – understands and what it seems more than prepared to do.