Wolfgang Horatschek, Managing Director of GBM Maschinenvertrieb GmbH, in an interview with LECTURA Press

Reviewing your background, you gained many experience in the construction machinery sector. What made you decide to found your own company, GBM Maschinenvertrieb GmbH, in 2018?

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The existing Austrian company CNHI was looking for a new dealer. After an intensive negotiation phase we, that is my owners and I, decided to buy this company from CNH and to reorganize the distribution in Austria.

Why did you decide to represent the Case and MAGNI brands?

On the one hand, I was already familiar with the excellent Case brand products from my past sales activities in Southeast Europe; on the other hand, I learned to appreciate the quality, the availability of spare parts and the performance of the machines back then. We have very loyal customers in Case, but the only constant is change. The GBM team has done a great job in a short time, be it in the service area, spare parts inventory or sales, so that customer satisfaction has increased significantly.

MAGNI is a globally known, innovative product of the highest quality in the field of rotating, rigid and heavy-duty telescopic forklifts, as well as scissor lifts. The decision to expand the product was easy because I knew these machines from the past and the market for these machines is getting bigger and bigger. Due to the expanded tasks in all areas of the company, we have decided to expand the management of GBM with a long-term companion of mine, Mr. Günter Vollmann, in order to ensure success here as well.

Would you like to represent another manufacturer in the near future?

As mentioned before, you have to look into the future, because we want to continue to be a stable and competent partner for our customers. With ZOOMLION, a real global giant that also manufactures concrete pumps, we have now succeeded in adding another product to our range, not only for Austria, but also for 9 other countries in Europe.

Why do you think this combination is ideal for your customers?

The customer is oriented towards working with his partners with whom he has had good experiences and it would be a shame if we as GBM cannot provide comprehensive support for our loyal customers due to an incomplete product portfolio. With all these extensions we are able to advance into segments that are related to our product range and are an absolute asset to our customers.

Very often you have a project that is particularly close to your heart. Which one is yours?

Our heart project was to achieve market leadership in Austria for our case graders. Thanks to the trust of our customers and the constant efforts of the entire GBM team, we succeeded brilliantly. For us this means: "Never stop getting better - we are the partner at their side for our customers and that applies to all products!"