Matthias Reckziegel, Aftermarket Key Account Manager (pictured left) celebrates the global launch of SHW Performance.
The intent.
“We are excited to offer our existing o.e portfolio of products directly to the consumer.”
In January 2020, SHW Brake Systems made the decision to sell the brake discs for high-performance vehicles manufactured in Tuttlingen and Neuhausen directly to the independent parts market under their own brand. So far, the discs have been sold almost exclusively to vehicle manufacturers working in original equipment or in the OES parts market and they only served the independent parts market via third-party suppliers and their own brands.
It all started with the search for a suitable brand name - "SHW Performance". We then designed a corresponding logo together with an external service provider. The coordination of the marketing strategy, together with the basic branding and the associated "sales pack", came next. We created customer presentations, the packaging design, including labels and assembly instructions, and then defined the product portfolio, including a pricing strategy.
The Strategy.
The global focus will primarily be on our twopart lightweight brake discs, in which we are the market leader when compared to other lightweight solutions. We may also sell one or two one-piece discs despite the tough global competition. .
“We are on the right track so far, having successfully overcome hurdles along the way.”
In addition to the existing OE portfolio, we will also develop discs for selected high-performance vehicles in the future, especially for after-market customers. We offer these as "reverse-engineered" solutions for applications in which SHW is not an original equipment supplier or in which no lightweight discs are used as original parts. We will thus be offering higher quality discs compared to the OE brake discs from the competition. For example, a BMW 330 driver could then purchase a lightweight disc with the look and performance of a disc for the BMW M3.
We are on the right track and so far, have successfully overcome hurdles along the way. There is still a lot to do after these initial successes, but the prospects are good. It will be exciting to see how our business in the independent after-market segment will develop with our new "SHW Performance" brand.