The STIHL Group opened its own sales subsidiary in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, at a ceremony held on September 6. Serbia and neighboring Montenegro will be serviced from this new base. Norbert Pick, STIHL board member responsible for Marketing and Sales, expects greater sales opportunities in the region: "I see considerable potential in both countries, especially in view of their substantial farmland and wooded areas and the economic upswing projected for the medium term."
This is the first time STIHL has been represented by its own company in the region of the former Yugoslavia and will further expand the presence of the STIHL and VIKING brands in the two EU candidate countries. The sales territory has a total area of about 104,000 sq.km, comparable to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, and is relatively sparsely populated with about 8 million inhabitants.
General manager Dijana Peskir has been with STIHL since the beginning of 2013 and is responsible for establishing the company. "I see my main task during the company's start-up phase in cooperating closely with existing dealers and integrating new dealers in the STIHL sales concept", said Dijana Peskir.
EU membership would mean that the European exhaust emission regulations for small off-road engines would come into force in both countries and necessitate a changeover to low emission engines. The product line in the market will therefore gradually change and the customers' need for advice and service will increase. For this reason major importance has been attached to providing spacious training facilities at the company's premises in Belgrade for the technicians of the dealerships which currenty number 120.