The Vorwerk Annual Report 2OO8

MANAGEMENT REPORT THERMOMIX / LUX ASIA PACIFICmodel was created as an anniversary-year campaign and this led to additional purchases. Thesales team is highly motivated and success-oriented and as a result the positive development willcontinue.The development in France (plus 42 per cent) and Poland (plus 46 per cent) wassimilarly dynamic. In Portugal, the country with the most sustainable growth rates in recentyears, the sales performance could once again be improved, this time by 36 per cent.The basis for success is a cross-border, uniform understanding of “best practice” andits resolute application. This will now be adopted in new markets. The small yet successfullygrowingsales organisation in Taiwan and the establishment of a Thermomix sales unit in Mexicorepresent two bridgeheads for Asia and for the Americas. Their development will demonstratethe degree of unutilised potential for Thermomix. The export business to other countries withsales through independent distributors is also growing noticeably and is an additional pointer tothe fact that the Thermomix is an appliance for the future for all manner of cuisines and tastes.Direct Sales, Lux Asia PacificA direct sales turnover of 36 million euros at Lux Asia Pacific – the organisation primarilyselling vacuum cleaners and water purifiers under the Lux brand throughout many parts of Asia– was well below expectations and poorer than the development in the previous year. In particular,it still has not been possible to lead the business in Japan back to the successes of earlier yearsdespite fundamental restructuring. Additionally, the adjustment of the sales lines in Indonesiaresulted in lower sales volumes. There are products and concepts in the future-oriented fieldof water purification that have not yet been satisfactorily implemented. To be successful in thisarea, it is essential to be able to offer an affordable product for use in private households, onethat is technically sound and reliable and which is able to compete against the keen competitionrepresented by bottled water.The Vorwerk strategy for Asia envisages further gradual integration into the Vorwerkorganisation of the Lux Asia Pacific country companies following the already-implementedchange-over to Vorwerk appliances for some individual product lines. The successes of VorwerkKobold in China and the encouraging progress of Thermomix in Taiwan show that Asia willcontinue to be of more and more significance for Vorwerk. Lux Asia Pacific will also make itscontribution to this.26