Meet the Executive Board

The Wacker Neuson Group was once again able to report very good figures for 2022. How did you navigate a series of world crisis and still manage to grow?

Christoph Burkhard: Achieving these positive results was quite an accomplishment against the complex economic and political backdrop – certainly not something to be taken for granted. It took a lot of hard work from the entire Wacker Neuson team to deliver profitable double-digit growth once again in 2022.

Ongoing supply chain disruptions and consistently high procurement, energy and shipping costs did dent our profitability, however. The key to success in the current challenging climate therefore lies in an active and robust working capital management strategy. This means striking the right balance between maximizing production capacity utilization and ensuring delivery capabilities while optimizing our inventories.

Dr. Karl Tragl: In the medium term, we know that we could also be impacted by the current uncertainties. Our markets are fundamentally still intact, however, because they have positive impetus from global megatrends like population growth, urbanization, shifts in food systems, infrastructure build-out and digitalization. Continued strong demand for our products leaves us optimistic for the year ahead. Regardless of the economic situation, we see additional opportunities for growth in connection with the integration of Enar and our strategic alliances. We are also set to benefit from the growing electrification trend. 

Alexander Greschner: All of these steps speak to our goal of placing our Group firmly on a sustainable growth path that builds on multiple pillars. In the future, therefore, we will be looking beyond short-term rofitability to embrace the long game, driven by organic and successful growth. 

Our partnership with John Deere – the leading global manufacturer of agricultural, forestry and construction equipment – strengthens our business in the Americas in particular thanks to a long-term, exclusive OEM supply agreement for mini and compact excavators. The acquisition of the Enar Group perfectly complements our portfolio in the rapidly growing concrete and compaction technology market. And with our participating interest in the SEQUELLO joint venture, we are investing in the digitalization of core processes in construction logistics to simplify everyday construction site workflows for our customers and suppliers.

Felix Bietenbeck: Each one of our M&A moves over the past year is helping us reinforce our position as a technology leader, also strengthening our ability to actively shape trends in the construction equipment industry. Our Battery One collaboration is a good example of how this can work. Placing customer value center stage, Battery One is a brand- and vendor-agnostic concept allowing batteries for light equipment to be easily interchanged.

Alexander Greschner: bauma definitely ranks as one of the highlights of the year for the Wacker Neuson Group. Especially as the coronavirus pandemic meant we had to wait longer than usual to get together after the 2019 bauma. The sense of anticipation was huge therefore, as was the buzz around our stand – created by enthusiastic customers and our entire team. And the excitement was justified. We unveiled quite a few innovations bringing our vision of the construction site of the future to life for visitors to our stand.

Felix Bietenbeck: “Meet the Future” was our slogan for bauma. Reflecting this motto, the focus of our bauma ‘reveals’ was on electrification, digitalization and innovation. We demonstrated that the construction equipment industry is already able to efficiently combine forward-looking technologies and place the customer at the center of development activities. As the world’s leading trade show for the construction industry, bauma provides the ideal platform for companies with an international network of production sites and sales offices like the Wacker Neuson Group to showcase their innovations and engage with their customers.