The battery maker set its sales target at about 2.5 million batteries for 2013 and has not revealed last year’s results yet. According to the latest information available revenue should have reached EUR83 million last year, up 12% on 2011.
“The market unfortunately shrank for the fifth year in a row, as the main players had projected. We expect the market to be flat at best,” Ioan Repede, general manager of Rombat told ZF Transilvania. “The best after-market (replacement of used car battery) markets for us in 2012 were France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain.”
Rombat management also said his industry was experiencing overproduction at the moment, which could cause tension to worsen.
“The result of this fiercer competition will translate into lower prices and lower profits, because we’re talking survival on a highly competitive market. Rombat is pursuing development of OEM (original equipment market – carmakers) customer portfolio and expansion of partnerships with car part dealers for the aftermarket sales,” Ioan Repede said.
Exports generate 58% of Rombat’s revenue and the company plans to strengthen position on the markets where it already operates, as well as test new markets in Europe and beyond.
Rombat also invested in the development of a production facility last year, which will be completed in the coming months. The new facility will make both standard and Start-Stop batteries. The Start-Stop batteries shut down and restart the engine to reduce the amount it spends idling, thus reducing fuel consumption by up to 10% and emissions.
Rombat got into the Start-Stop business last year.
The battery maker’s majority shareholder is Metair International Holdings Cooperatief U.A., part of South Africa’s Metair Investment Limited, which bought it for about EUR40 million last year.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)