Topcon and Kuhn agree on sales partnership

HAMBURG, Germany / CAPELLE A/D IJSSEL, The Netherlands – 11th August 2015 – Topcon Europe Positioning and the Kuhn Group have agreed on a sales partnership, designed to  considerably strengthen the Topcon distribution network in Southern Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. The new partnership will provide Kuhn with complete on-demand solutions that their customers need for machine control systems and positioning requirements.

As a result of the arrangement, Kuhn completes their offering of construction machinery. Whilst being able to offer a number of different manufacturers machines, Kuhn's main supplier is Komatsu, the large Japanese manufacturer of construction machinery. The working relationship between Topcon and Komatsu has now led to this new partnership between Topcon and the Kuhn Group, as Europe's largest privately-owned Komatsu dealership.

The Kuhn Group with their head office near Salzburg (Austria) has regional enterprises in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia, amongst others. "Our new distribution agreement enables Topcon to better serve important markets in Germany, Austria and the Eastern Central Europe," said Carsten Frantzen, business development manager for construction at Topcon Europe Positioning. "With the Kuhn Group being a truly European dealership, this is a major market opener for us. Their presence in the south of Germany as well as many East and Southeast European countries closes a couple of uncharted territories on our sales map."

Subject of the agreement is the sales of Topcon machine control systems and Topcon surveying instruments used to position and control machines. Topcon Deutschland Positioning GmbH in Hamburg is responsible for the sale of Topcon solutions in the markets of the Kuhn Group. Technically, Kuhn is providing the equipment as well as fitting the machines. Through the regional sales network in Southern Germany, Austria as well as in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia the Group provides a widespread service optimized for specific market requirements. Andreas Strunk, managing director of Topcon Deutschland Positioning, said, "The Kuhn Group's regional and local presence in those markets, its sales network, and its trained service personnel lead to essential benefits for our customers. This ensures a very high availability of technical know-how and very quick response and delivery times in case of service or spare parts."

About KUHN

The KUHN Group is divided up into three strategic divisions: building machines, loading engineering and machine tools. The three divisions are independent of each other both in terms of organizational structures and operations and are managed both in Austria and internationally by separate companies under the umbrella of KUHN Holding GmbH.

KUHN has foreign subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Poland, Switzerland, and Germany. The group stands for reliable partnership in the construction, transportation, warehousing, and logistics sectors as reflected by the well-known manufacturers for whom KUHN is the general agent in Austria and other European countries.

KUHN's building machine division has exclusive marketing rights for KOMATSU products in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Southern Germany, Switzerland, and Croatia. The same applies with regard to POWERSCREEN screeners and crushers as well as FRD hydraulic hammers.

The material handling division sells PALFINGER truck cranes and MITSUBISHI forklifts. KUHN has had exclusive marketing rights for the high-quality PALFINGER cranes since 1986 and has a market share of more than 50% in Austria. It is the general importer of MITSUBISHI forklifts in Austria, Hungary, and Poland.

The EMCO Group is one of Europe´s leading manufacturers of machine tools and develops and produces innovative high-tech machine tools for the metal-cutting industry.  With its extensive product portfolio, the EMCO Group is a respected and proven partner within the field of turning and milling.