STIHL held an international press conference at their headquarters in Waiblingen, Germany on Wednesday last week, where they announced a downturn in revenue.

STIHL Brand World in Waiblingen, Germany

TurfPro attended the event that saw trade press from around the world gather to hear Michael Traub, chairman of the STIHL executive board say that the past eight months have "proven challenging" for the STIHL Group.

He confirmed that the company had generated revenue of 3.84 billion euros in the period from January to August 2023, which is a decline of 1.5% year on year. He also announced that the company's workforce had decreased by 0.5% to 20,311 employees worldwide as of August 31.

Michael Traub said, "After several years of strong growth, our markets find themselves in a period of temporary consolidation in 2023." He explained this downturn as being a consequence of consumers not spending as much on their homes and gardens as they were during the Covid years. He also cited the high energy costs hitting both themselves and their customers, as another factor affecting revenue levels.

He went to on say though that the company is looking to the future with confidence. "We have ambitious growth plans and continue to invest a great deal in our business," he said, "especially in batteries - the technology of the future - and in our global manufacturing and sales network."

Inside Brand World

As part of this growth, the company have announced that they are to build its own EC (electronically commutated) motor plant for professional battery-operated products in Waiblingen. This will be the first time the company has manufactured their own EC motors in-house, which they said will ensure that the motors are a better match for their products as a whole. The facility will initially focus on producing these components solely for the pro tools and is set to start in 2025. The total investment was said to amount to roughly 17 million euros.

Demo of new professional battery-powered brushcutter

The meeting this week also afforded the company the opportunity to show off to the gathered press their new Brand World - a three-story exhibition space measuring just over 1,500 square meters. The modern, interactive facility highlights both the company's history and the development of its products - as well on focusing on the power and importance of forests around the globe. It's an impressive facility that will be both open to public and used to bring groups of STIHL's guests and dealers together.