March 2017 heralds an exciting new chapter for HELLA here in the UK, as it becomes the first country within the HELLA group to introduce filtration through a powerful alliance with original equipment (OE) manufacturer, Hengst Filtration.
The agreement is a union between two longstanding and like-minded businesses, for both are OE manufacturers and system suppliers to the global automotive industry, both are acknowledged as award winning technological innovators, while they are also both renowned for their commitment to deliver the very best in terms of quality, availability and support to the independent aftermarket.
Commenting on the development, Andreas Habeck, responsible for the Aftermarket business at HELLA said: “This alliance with Hengst opens the doors for substantial business growth for both our companies and provides us with the perfect product to add to our portfolio, as it encompasses all that we value as an organisation. Hengst manufactures products of the highest quality, which means that we can continue to provide our customers with the reassurance that comes with a globally recognised OE brand and with a depth of range to satisfy their requirements.”
From April 2017, HELLA Hengst branded oil, air, fuel and cabin filters for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles will be only available via the HELLA UK warehouse and direct from Germany for volume customers. Commercial vehicle filters will still be available under the Hengst brand.
For Hengst Filtration, Christopher Heine, member of the Hengst board and responsible for the Aftermarket, Industrial Air Filtration and Finance, added: “We have entered into this alliance because it combines the best of two traditional companies: HELLA Group has significant OE heritage and an outstanding service expertise dating back over 100 years and with almost 60 years’ presence in the UK market, we will now benefit from this local expertise. On the other hand, we incorporate an established product range and our filtration competence into the partnership.
“Hengst is an internationally established development partner and supplier in the array of filtration and produces complete fluid management solutions for the OE market. Filter elements for the Independent Aftermarket – meeting identical and high quality standards covering all models of cars. Filters that have been developed for use as OE are transferred to the Aftermarket program and constructed in the same way. We both have the same goal and we are sure this partnership will lead to mutual success.”
The HELLA UK and Ireland team are no strangers to the filtration market, with key personnel boasting a collective 40 years of filtration experience. In addition, six business development managers, specialist product managers and the usual central resources, such as online cataloguing, technical data and installation advice, ensure customers will receive the usual high standard of support.
