2nd annual meeting of French network took place in Lyon / Target: expansion of market position and network in France
EUROPART held its second annual meeting within its French network in Lyon. Directors and managers of every EUROPART partner from all over France have been brought together once again to discuss topics such as trends of the global and local market as well as future possibilities.
Jérôme Grau, EUROPART´s manager for the French market, emphasized the importance of the distribution network in France: "Our partners are among the most important opinion leaders in the French market, we are working with the best and therefore can provide expert advice and excellent supply of spare parts all over France. This event is the perfect occasion to further strengthen not only our relationship with the partners, but the network itself." The French network of EUROPART partners is evolving since 2016 and containing today 15 partners with 46 points-of-sale. The French market is already covered with a share of 55%. “And yet, the expansion is not finished,” Jérôme Grau points out.
To support and provide all partners in France the best possible way, the latest developments of the company as such and of EUROPART Premium Parts products were shown. Especially the importance of the own brand EUROPART Premium Parts within the French market was highlighted. “The benefits of being part of the EUROPART network are immense and unique: we offer a wide portfolio, in addition the EUROPART Premium Parts products, an extensive network with high availability due to an excellent supply chain, top quality and the best quality-price ratio”, says Jérôme Grau.
The range of EUROPART Premium Parts now includes more than 7,000 parts, 500 new products are added annually to the existing range of own brands. The range expansion includes additions to the existing core segment with new sizes, current models or additional variants, as well as new product groups that expand the program. "Our declared goal is to provide our partners with all necessary spare parts, tools and accessories from a single source and, if possible, under our own brand EUROPART Premium Parts," explains Grau. All products of the EUROPART own brand are tested by internal audits as well as by independent organizations according to the highest automotive standards.
During the meeting, Pierre Fleck, EUROPART CEO explained how the market is changing in general and how EUROPART has adapted to this change all over Europe: “In addition to the acquisition in Sweden in 2016, many new locations and partners have joined our network in the past 12 months, for example in Spain, Italy, Poland, Bosnia and Romania. France is a very important market for us, so we will be following our growth course and investing and expanding here, too.”
At the end of 2016, EUROPART started a new approach in France by extending its successful international supply concept throughout France, dealers are served directly from EUROPART’s central warehouse in Werl, Germany. This concept has already been proven very successful in Spain and Italy. Fleck pointed out: “The last three years of EUROPART in Spain and Italy show a remarkable development – we are growing strongly by means of organizational expansion, cooperation with professional partners, joint ventures or takeovers. We expect the same outcome in France and are strongly relying on the local coverage of our distributor partnerships, this is the way to go. Our target is to be in one of the top two places in every European country.”