AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
EUROSTARS 2000
KLAUS FRICKE Vice president of marketing and sales, |
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AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
EUROSTARS 2000
KLAUS FRICKE Vice president of marketing and sales, |
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Klaus Fricke´s mission when he joined Micro Compact Car GmbH in April 1999 was to rescue the troubled Smart city car brand. He had very little time. After a difficult launch in October 1998, MCC's first-quarter results in 1999 were so bad that DaimlerChrysler boss Jürgen Schrempp was fast losing patience with Smart. The very last chance was to meet a revised sales target of 80,000 units by the end of 1999. Fricke used all the marketing, sales and distribution tools at his disposal. He relaunched Smart, changed the advertising strategy, adjusted the pricing and restructured the distribution network by integrating Smart into the D/C sales organization. Smart found its niche. Sales will comfortably exceed the target of 100,000 units by the end of this year, and will continue to grow with new products such as the Smart roadster in the future. Even more important is the fact that Fricke, 47, managed to embody the Smart brand with the values it always should have possessed. The little two-seater was brought back from the brink of failure and is now perceived as trendy, fashionable, clever and desirable. Fricke previously held sales positions at Daimler-Benz and BMW, and was also managing director of German seat manufacturer Recaro. |
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