Corteco is striving for more growth in southeast Europe. The FST division opened a new warehouse in Turkey, shared on a 50-50 basis with GeneraI Industry, in March as part of its effort. It is making it possible to supply existing and new customers significantly faster. At the same time, the new warehouse is a step toward improved sustainability.
Turkey is an important market for Corteco. It has numerous customers in the independent spare parts market, serving both passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles. With shorter distances, Corteco will be closer to its customers, further strengthening its position in southeast Europe.
“Over the last few years, we have continuously grown in the Turkish market. Now we want to build on that growth,” said Jürgen Friedl, Vice President, Corteco Europe. The company’s customers in Turkey will be getting even better service. With their exceptional understanding of the market, Corteco employees know the local landscape and communicate with their customers in their own language – which simplifies business relationships. At the same time, the entire region of southeast Europe offers considerable, dynamic growth potential that Corteco would like to develop from Turkey. After all, the Middle East and Near East are not far away.
As of today, there are about 6,000 items that can be shipped to customers in the region directly from the 1,000-square-meter (10,764-square-foot) warehouse in east Istanbul. “Being in the country gives our customers huge advantages,” said Michael Apfel, Operations Project Manager Europe at Corteco. Customers in Turkey are now supplied from the Istanbul warehouse and no longer from Germany. That means they receive their orders in just a few days and significantly faster than in the past. Corteco is also taking over all customs processing with its logistics partner, Mars Logistics.
The new warehouse also promotes sustainability. The CO2 emissions for the delivery path to the customer are just one-third of what they once were. The reason: Trains handle the transport from Germany to the Turkish warehouse. In the past, trucks made the trip to customers from Germany.
New Sales Office in Serbia
A new sales office in Novi Sad, Serbia, underscores Corteco’s aspirations in southeast Europe. “The diversity of our customers with a pronounced repair mentality and their needs in the region are growing steadily here as well. We are accommodating them with our new branch office in Serbia and improving our service. That is very important, especially on the interpersonal level. With the sales office, the team led by Goran Vujovic is in even better shape to maintain the excellent network serving our customers while giving our growing local Corteco team a homebase,” said Jürgen Friedl, Vice President, Corteco Europe.
Groundbreaking: Corteco Invests in New Warehouse in Weinheim
Corteco has grown steadily in recent years. It is also planning to expand its portfolio, adding products for other sectors such as the heavy-duty segment and agriculture. Corteco’s European distribution center in Hirschberg (Bergstrasse), however, has reached the limits of its capacity, so the company is investing in a new building and state-of-the-art warehouse infrastructure, and relocating to the nearby Weinheim Industrial Park in 2025. The groundbreaking took place on May 17.
