Growth and close relations in Japan

Despite the lack of electricity, food and other commodities after the earthquake and the resulting tsunami, staff at Grundfos Japan turned up to offer service to customers.

According to Group Executive Vice President, Søren Ø. Sørensen, staff have made an exemplary effort and this is the reason why Grundfos performed so well throughout the crisis.

The activities in Japan are directly reflected at the bottom line. Turnover after the disaster increased by almost 20 percent.

- We are successful in Japan because we chose to stay and be loyal to customers and the society. In Japan relations are decisive for making business and I am quite sure that this year we have further developed our already fine relations in the Japanese market, says Mr Sørensen.

Large and important market

Japan is a large and important market for Grundfos – the tenth largest in the Group. Whereas in 2011, partly because of the disaster, the country experienced negative growth of GNP, Grundfos in Japan were able to gain new market shares.

The industry is the main segment, with focus on the engineering trade which makes up almost half of the total turnover in the industry.

Because of this, Mr Sørensen sees great opportunities for Grundfos to create further growth in the near future.

The country has to be rebuilt, new solutions must be implemented and low-lying areas must be secured against flooding.

- We are ready to help our customers by offering advice and solutions to enable them to make the right decisions and, of course, at the end of the day sell a number of pumps, says Mr Sørensen, emphasising that Grundfos will be committed to playing an important role also when things are back to normal.