Sfakianakis S.A.

Last updated
Sfakianakis S.A.
Industry Automobile
Predecessor Biamax (since 1998)
Founded1956;67 years ago (1956)
Defunct2012;11 years ago (2012)
Fatestopped vehicle production in 2012, with a 41% stake sold to Vianex S.A.
Products Buses, armored vehicles
Number of employees
2,800
Sfakianakis Hellenic Police bus, one of many specialized types developed for state authorities and organizations Police car in Greece 04.JPG
Sfakianakis Hellenic Police bus, one of many specialized types developed for state authorities and organizations

SfakianakisGroup is a Greek company that primarily focuses on the import, distribution, and trading of automobiles, trucks, and buses employing over 2800 in 6 countries in 2014.. The company has been in operation for several decades and has established itself as a prominent player in the Greek automotive market. It is known for representing and distributing various international brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Setra, and other well-known manufacturers.

Contents

Additionally, Sfakianakis Group is involved in the provision of after-sales services, spare parts, and accessories for the vehicles they distribute. They have an extensive network of dealerships and service centers throughout Greece to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain their strong market presence.

History and evolution of the Industrial division

The company's origins were based on vehicle manufacture. Originally called Büssing Hellas (after the German manufacturer whose engines it used) it was founded in 1957 succeeding earlier trading companies founded by the same family. Initially building bodies on imported chassis, it soon developed its own chassis family (originally based on a German MAN model, the latter having acquired Büssing). The company's SS500 chassis ('SS' standing for 'Stratis Sfakianakis') was subsequently further developed, and a great variety of bus types was designed and built over it in the following years in the company's factory near Elefsina, with exports to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Other industrial activities included construction of truck bodies and Japanese Hino chassis assembly. The company was renamed Sfakianakis S.A. in 1993 and among the last types it designed and produced were the SS400 and SS380 minibuses and a new series of SS500 inter-city and coach variants. [1]

The Sfakianakis industrial division had managed to survive for decades without any state support, despite fierce competition from imports; a flood of cheaper imports, though, eventually made bus manufacture unprofitable. This division was greatly shrunk in 2006, after the group had very successfully diversified into other business areas including vehicle import and sales and the services sector. [1]

Evolution of the Sfakianakis Group

The parent company, Sfakianakis SA, was established in 1957 and remains family owned. With 500,000 customers and EUR500m revenues in 2009, [2] Sfakianakis Group is now the largest automotive group in Greece, leading the market in automotive retail across eight businesses in Greece, Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Specialist services include the import and distribution of automobiles, motorcycles, trucks and buses, the import and distribution of machinery for the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors, and a network of 24 dealerships retailing brands including Suzuki, BMW, Mini, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Nissan, Volvo, Ford, Opel, Renault, Dacia and Cadillac.

Sfakianakis, through its Executive Lease car rental division, represents Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Greece and thirteen other countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Republic of North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. [3]

The conglomerate is also active in the mailing sector through its Speedex courier company, with 7 million yearly deliveries through 200 distribution centers servicing 14,000 destinations in 220 countries around the world. Speedex operates through 1,400 highly trained individuals with a fleet of 300 trucks and 700 motorcycles. It also makes air cargo deliveries to island destinations through Express Cargo. [4]

Among other divisions, Sfakianakis is also active in electronics retail chains and large-scale construction through its directly owned subsidiaries. [5]

Related Research Articles

Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZF Friedrichshafen</span> German car parts maker

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a global technology company supplying systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German state of Baden-Württemberg. Specialising in engineering, it is primarily known for its design, research and development, and manufacturing activities in the automotive industry. It is a worldwide supplier of driveline and chassis technology for cars and commercial vehicles, along with specialist plant equipment such as construction equipment. It is also involved in rail, marine, defense and aviation industries, as well as general industrial applications. ZF has 168 production locations in 32 countries with approximately 165,000 (2022) employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naza</span>

The Naza Group of Companies is a Malaysian business conglomerate involved in many types of business ranging from motoring to education. The group began operations in 1975 as a motor trading company. The motoring sector remains the most important sector for the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theologou</span>

Theologou was one of the first vehicle manufacturers in Greece. It was created by Nikos Theologos, a Greek mechanic who had lived and worked for a few years in the US, and founded this company after he returned to Athens, Greece in 1906. Around 1916 he designed and constructed a light passenger car with a motorcycle engine; according to his descendants, the efforts had started in 1908, and since 1916 a small number were built. His company, nonetheless, produced a variety of bus and truck bodies, mostly on Ford chassis in the 1920s. By the late 1920s it was facing strong competition by larger companies like Tournikiotis and Athena in Athens, Bouhagier in Patras and others, which also produced vehicles on imported chassis, and was soon eclipsed by them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biamax</span>

BIAMAX(Proper Greek pronunciation Viamax) was a Greek vehicle manufacturer. In the late 70's it was one of the biggest Greek companies, operating three factories and several other auxiliary facilities throughout the country. In addition, BIAMAX became a leading industry in Greece, in areas including Quality Assurance, technical training, process documentation and Research & Development. Although its main activity was vehicle manufacture, some of its subsidiaries were also involved in areas like tourist services, exports of farm products and shipping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petropoulos</span>

Petropoulos is today a major importer and distributor of vehicles and heavy machinery, having been, at the same time, one of the historic Greek tractor, vehicle and engine manufacturers.

Mego (ΜΕΓΚΟ) was a Greek light vehicle manufacturer, based in Trikala. Its first products, launched in 1947, were utility tricycles. In 1951, it began manufacturing motorized utility tricycles with 50–100cc engines and an unconventional design in which the solo wheel was located at the rear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellenic Vehicle Industry</span> Greek automobile manufacturer

Hellenic Vehicle Industry is a Greek vehicle manufacturer based in Thessaloniki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SAM (vehicles)</span>

The name SAM stands for Stephanos A. Mbaltas, the founder of this Greek company, one of several that produced three-wheeler trucks in that country, in business between 1966 and 1974. Its first models used 1200cc Volkswagen air-cooled engines, while Ford 1300cc engines powered later models. The chassis developed by SAM was very robust and some of its trucks were surviving 30 years after the company went out of business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iochpe-Maxion</span>

Iochpe-Maxion S.A. is an automobile components manufacturer based in São Paulo, Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emporiki Autokiniton</span>

Emporiki Autokiniton was a major Greek automobile trading and industrial company. Systematic vehicle production started in 1968, while the company built a modern vehicle assembly factory in the north of Athens in 1971. A large number of Mazda, Opel and, later, Alfa Romeo models were assembled – usually with a significant proportion of parts locally produced. The company also introduced modified versions of Mazda trucks, including longer versions of the B1500 and B1600 light trucks. A number of the latter was also produced with the company’s own Grezda brand name in the early 1980s, mostly for export. Emporiki Autokiniton was seriously affected by problems largely connected with the labor unrest of the 1980s in Greece and production was eventually terminated in 1985, after a failed attempt to produce a jeep and a 2-tonne truck type of own development.

TEMAX is a specialised manufacturer of fire and rescue vehicles, trailers and equipment based in Athens, Greece. Temax also manufactures snow-clearing equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automotive industry in Pakistan</span> Overview of the automotive industry in Pakistan

The automotive industry in Pakistan is one of the smallest but fastest-growing industries in the country, growing by 171% between 2014 and 2018. It accounts for 3% of Pakistan's GDP and employed a workforce of over 3.5 million people as of 2018. Pakistan is the 35th largest producer of automobiles. Its contribution to the national exchequer is nearly Rs. 50-billion. Pakistan's auto market is among the smallest but fastest growing in Asia. 269,792 cars were sold in 2018, but this number declined to 186,716 in 2019 due to austerity measures. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Pakistan had many Japanese cars. With the launch of the first Auto Policy in 2005, Pakistan launched its first indigenous car, Adam Revo. However, after the 2008 elections, the dollar started depreciating, and due to bad governance, many automakers began to halt production, with some exiting Pakistan. Currently, the auto market is dominated by Honda, Toyota, and Suzuki. However, on 19 March 2016, Pakistan passed a second "Auto Policy 2016-21," which offers tax incentives to new automakers to establish manufacturing plants in the country. In response, Renault, Nissan, Proton Holdings, Kia, SsangYong, Volkswagen, FAW, and Hyundai have expressed interest in entering the Pakistani market. MG JW Automobile Pakistan has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Morris Garages (MG) Motor UK Limited, owned by SAIC Motor, to bring electric vehicles to Pakistan. NLC signed an agreement with Mercedes Benz to manufacture Mercedes Actros trucks in Pakistan. Pakistan has not enforced any automotive safety standards or model upgrade policies. A few older vehicle models, including the Bolan and Ravi, continue to be sold by Suzuki. On 8 July 2021, Jolta Electric launched the production of electric motorcycles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GAZ Group</span>

GAZ Group is a Russian automotive conglomerate headquartered in Nizhny Novgorod. It comprises 18 manufacturing facilities in eight regions of Russia, as well as sales and service organizations.

Daimler Truck North America LLC is an automotive industry manufacturer of commercial vehicles headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and LLC of the German multinational Daimler Truck AG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bouhagier Patras</span>

Bouhagier Patras or Buhayer Patras was considered to be the longest-lived vehicle body manufacturer in Greece. It was founded in 1890 and dissolved in 2004.

This article provides an overview of the automotive industry in countries around the world.

Serbia's automotive industry is one of the most important industrial sectors and makes about 15% of industrial output of the country and 18% of all exports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yanase (car dealership)</span> Japanese car dealership

Yanase & Co., Ltd. is a retailer of new Chinese, European, and North American vehicles and used cars in Japan. As of the year 2002, Yanase had the rights of exclusive retailer of Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Volvo, Saab, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Smart vehicles to Japanese consumers. It is part of the Itochu group.

The Sakthi Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate with operational areas in India, China, Europe, Middle East and United States. The group has operations in Sugar, Dairy, Industrial Alcohol, Automobile distribution and components, Transportation, Energy, Textiles, IT, Education and Healthcare. N. Mahalingam is the Founder. The group has automotive dealerships for leading brands of Maruti Suzuki and Tata vehicles in various places in South India. The group is also involved in Petrol Pump Operations, Indane LPG Distribution and the sale of consumer products and electronics. It also has a footprint in the textiles industries with Sri Sakthi Textiles Ltd.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sfakianakis". www.hellenicaworld.com. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  2. "Sfakianakis S.A".
  3. "Enterprise Holdings".
  4. "Speedex < Όμιλος - Sfakianakis". Sfakianakis.
  5. "Alpan < Όμιλος - Sfakianakis". Sfakianakis.