across areas ranging from material engineering and
flushing technologies, to electrical engineering for
lighting and sound, as well as for look, feel, acoustics
and usability.
China is now the company’s second-largest market
after Germany. Managing Director of Duravit China
Peter Bromberger cannot emphasise enough the
strategic importance of the burgeoning region. With
its manufacturing and management centre based
in Chongqing and sales and marketing services in
Shanghai, Duravit China now also has sales branches
in Chengdu, Beijing and Guangzhou. Peter is
confident that the Chinese market will continue to
grow and even surpass the German market within
the next five years. “On Duravit’s global business map,
China is one of the most important and dynamic
markets within the group.”
Leveraging more than 25 years of management
experience across a wide range of industries including
finance, manufacturing, automotive and electronics,
Peter joined Duravit China in January 2015 with
a targeted plan for growth. “China is a very brand-
driven market, so our strategy is to strengthen our
brand values by increasing the number of our
showrooms. This visibility on the ground is now
bearing its first fruits,” notes Peter. “In 2017 alone,
we renovated every one of our showrooms in China
and opened 40 new ones. As a result, retail sales grew
faster than project sales, reaching almost 40 per cent
of our total sales last year. Moving forward, our
target is to achieve a balance with 50 per cent project
and 50 per cent retail sales.” By the end of this
year, Peter is aiming for 150 showrooms throughout
China, including flagship showrooms in Suzhou
and Shanghai.
Duravit’s Chongqing Innovation and Production
Centre became operational at the end of last year.
Located at the Luohuang Industrial Park and covering
an area of 234 acres, the facility is Duravit’s largest
single investment project, fully equipped with
state-of-the-art technologies based on industry“WE’RE CONTEMPORARY
WITHOUT BEING TRENDY,
MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD
THAN OPULENT, AND
ALWAYS TIMELESS.”
INSPIRE | Interview