12.01.2016 Press conference in Sonneberg

During the annual press conference preceding the 2016 International Toy Fair, held from January 27 through February 1 in Nuremberg, Germany, PIKO management reported on sales trends for the prior year and presented the extensive range of new items for the year 2016 to the attending members of the press.

1.   Sales Trends in 2015

Dr. René Wilfer was in a good mood and visibly delighted to tell the press conference attendees about a very successful year 2015 for PIKO.

Owing to a strong holiday season PIKO managed to beat its already ambitious sales goal for the recent fiscal year by 2%.

As a result, the Sonneberg based model train manufacturer closed the fiscal year with an overall sales growth of 8%. PIKO continued its pattern of positive growth from recent years in an overall stagnating market. It was able to further cement its position as third largest model train manufacturer in continental Europe.

Dr. Wilfer expressed his gratitude for the loyalty shown by consumers, importers and retailers towards the PIKO brand. In addition he thanked the worldwide ca. 550 PIKO employees for their energetic efforts that contributed to this excellent result.

Dr. René F. Wilfer pointed out that the sales growth was generated in the German home market as well as in the export market. Both markets contributed with sales growth that was of 2% above goal.

In Germany, PIKO’s largest market with a 70% share of total sales volume, the positive trend from prior years continued with a year over year sales growth of 8% in 2015.

With a year over year sales growth of 11%, the German retail sector grew markedly faster than expected.

Over the years PIKO has become a strong and reliable partner for the retailers. This was rewarded by an increased presence of PIKO model trains in stores and successful sales.

Important building blocks for the positive development were the excellent product availability for the retailers and the timely delivery of all new items that were announced.

Besides the manufacturing facility in Sonneberg, where PIKO produces the complete garden railroad line, it was mainly the factory in Chashan in southern China where all N-scale, TT-scale as well as the majority of the H0-scale were manufactured that contributed to this.

In the export market PIKO managed to close the year with a solid 6% sales increase compared to the year before.

Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, and Poland showed very positive sales trends.

In 2015 PIKO began to service the Austrian market directly by PIKO in Sonneberg. This was received positively by retailers and consumers and has led to an increased presence for PIKO in Austria and to a corresponding increase in sales.

Starting in 2016 PIKO will leverage these positive aspects of serving a market directly including the use of a dedicated sales force. PIKO Polska is serving the Polish market since January 2016.

Our sales subsidiary in China closed the year with double digit sales growth as well. We hope to continue this development in 2016, as we are offering a Chinese locomotive for the first time.

In the USA our sales subsidiary PIKO America could not grow sales as significantly as we had hoped.

The excellent sales in Germany and abroad allowed PIKO to again be profitable in 2015. As a result PIKO is in a good position to face the challenges of the model train market over the coming years.

The success was a result of the strong collaboration of all 521 PIKO employees in the PIKO Group. As of December the headquarter in Sonneberg employs 163, PIKO China in Chashan 350, PIKO America in San Diego 4, and PIKO Asia in Hongkong 4 people.

 

2.   New Items and Plans for 2016

PIKO again enters the year 2016 with an attractive and extensive set of new items. According to the price list PIKO offers exactly 356 new products across the four scales G, H0, TT and N.

Model railroad enthusiasts can see the new items in the 2016 catalog that is already available at our retailers.

During the press conference PIKO presented the highlights of the new new items to the attending members of the press.

The garden railroad, PIKO’s biggest scale, will see the release of a real classic with the model of the BR 132 diesel locomotive. The PIKO locomotive correctly reproduces the characteristic appearance of the prototype. Railroad enthusiasts call it “Ludmilla” in reference to its country of manufacturing. The model is based on a proven design in order to guarantee maximum reliability. It is equipped with chrome plated ball bearing wheels. The model is prepared for digital operation, as is customary for PIKO garden railroad locomotives. The respective sound provides the typical diesel sound the prototype is known for.

The locomotive has an MSRP of 449.00 Euro and will be in stores at the end of March, right in time for the beginning of the garden railroading season.

The snow plow is another new item that is made from new molds. By the end of 2016 the garden train enthusiast will be able to use it in front of a locomotive for prototypical light snow service on his layout.

The cement hopper car Uce, another new car in the G-scale line, is based on completely new molds. Due to its length it is perfectly suited for use in block trains.

The Starter Set segment is crucial for acquiring new customers. It will be expanded by a passenger and a freight starter set that each feature the small diesel locomotive V20.

Especially the freight train offers the operator long lasting entertainment.

The American market will again receive a fireworks of new items that consists of a variety of new US locomotive and car models. This will help secure the strong position that PIKO has established in the American garden railroad market.

The H0 segment, the strongest by sales in the PIKO portfolio, will again receive many interesting new items across the three lines Classic, Expert and Hobby in 1:87 scale.

As the PIKO Expert line alone will account for 120 new locomotive models, only selected highlights from this line could be presented at today’s press conference.

This includes the electric locomotives BR 112/243 as well as the E10/40, both are very popular classic standard locomotives.

PIKO continues with its strategy to offer standard locomotives that were widely used and are thus in high demand with model train enthusiasts in a high quality design with the proven PIKO price performance ratio.

The model of the BR 112 that will be available at retailers at the end of March is an example of this. It will be equipped with a 5-pole motor with flywheel for excellent running characteristics and prototypical reproduction of type specific details like special pantographs, lamps, windows, buffers, sockets and even separately attached grab rails in the front as well as lighted destination displays behind the front windows that can be controlled independently like the front lights and cab lights in DCC mode.

The new V200.1 and the BR102 are two new diesel locomotive models that are at the top of many model train enthusiast’s whish list. They are made from new molds and are equipped with state of the art technology.

Model train enthusiasts in Austria can look forward to the the models of the classic ÖBB electric locomotives 1010 and 1010.5 that are both made from new molds. They will be released as technically sophisticated, modern PIKO H0 Expert models.

The model of the diesel electric locomotive SU45 from new molds will be released at the beginning of this year especially for the Polish market. The locomotive is one of the most important passenger and express train diesel locomotives of the PKP and will be available in multiple variants.

In order to further boost the positive trend in France a model of the French DMU Z7300 will be released at the beginning of the year, adding another new set of molds to the PIKO Expert segment.

The modern diesel locomotive Vossloh G6 and the first PIKO model of a Chinese locomotive the diesel locomotive DF7C round out the new item package in the H0 Expert line.

The PIKO Classic line, the high precision product line for collectors and discerning model train enthusiasts will receive two new models with the cement hopper car Uce and the modern pocket car T3000. Both models are made from new molds.

The PIKO Hobby line will receive the much requested attractive ÖBB/CD Railjet cab control car with directional lighting. It can be combined with the already available Railjet cars to form a sleek train. 

In 2015 PIKO brought an entirely new and innovative digital system to market, the PIKO SmartContol system. This system was the first to combine the advantages of modern smart phone technology with the special requirements of the model train enthusiast.

With the attractive and easy to use PIKO SmartControl train sets PIKO succeeded in attracting a whole range of newcomers and returnees to the fascinating hobby of model railroading during the Christmas buying season.

This will remain an important goal in 2016. An extensive marketing plan will help us reach this goal.

Beside the H0 and N scales were PIKO offers a full range of products, the other two scales in the PIKO portfolio, TT and N, will again receive attractive new models in 2016.

The TT segment will receive models of two modern locomotives with the Siemens Vectron as electric and diesel version and the Bomardier locomotive BR187/147. The models will be made from new molds and will be released this year.

The model of the hopper car Falns, again made from a new set of molds, rounds out the comprehensive set of new items.

In order to further grow PIKO’s export ratio, it is important to offer country specific models for the export markets.

In 2016 PIKO will release a N-scale model of the Dutch diesel locomotive NS1200. The 1:160 model will be made from a new set of molds.

Another attractive N-scale model made from new molds is the railcar for heavy loads that will be released in different variants and with a variety of loads. This car will be especially relevant to the Swiss market.

The complete PIKO model train product range including the new items can be viewed on the internet at www.piko.de or in the new 2016 catalog that is available at our retailers since the beginning of the year.

Based on the excellent position PIKO has in the retail market and on the comprehensive list of attractive new items for the different markets and scales PIKO is expecting a sales growth of 7% in 2016. The growth in the export markets is expected to be slightly stronger than in Germany.

Sonneberg, January 12 2016

Dr. René F. Wilfer


Photo: Stefan Kühnlein

Dr. René F. Wilfer shows off the brand new G-scale model of the BR 132 diesel locomotive.