VIKING GmbH based in Langkampfen will be renamed STIHL Tirol GmbH at the beginning of July 2018. The change of name is taking place as part of the rebranding: from 2019, VIKING's full product range will only be sold under the STIHL brand. "We already successfully switched the first gardening power tools from VIKING green to STIHL orange at the beginning of this year with the STIHL battery-powered lawn mowers. With the change of name to STIHL Tirol GmbH, the brand change will now also be evident in the corporate identity", explains STIHL Chairman of the Board Bertram Kandziora. VIKING-branded gardening power tools can currently still be purchased from STIHL specialist dealers. The STIHL Group guarantees that arrangements for VIKING products regarding warranty, spare parts and service will continue to apply unchanged even after the brand change.
STIHL Tirol, as a center of excellence for ground-based gardening tools, will continue to manufacture products and develop them jointly with the STIHL headquarters. Furthermore the plant in Langkampfen is already producing most of the STIHL battery-powered and electric products and is therefore an important part of the STIHL worldwide production network. Clemens Schaller, Managing Director of STIHL Tirol, emphasises: "To meet the increasing worldwide demand for gardening power tools we recently invested EUR 22.8 million in the Langkampfen site to expand the production and development infrastructure. With this record investment, we are creating 100 new jobs and thus setting the course for further growth at our site in Langkampfen".
VIKING was established in Kufstein in 1981 and has been a full subsidiary of the STIHL Group since 1992. In addition to battery-powered and electric products, the site also develops, produces and sells lawn mowers, robotic mowers, ride-on mowers, garden shredders, tillers and scarifiers. VIKING has grown steadily in recent years to become a leading company in the gardening power tool sector. With 480 employees, VIKING achieved a turnover of EUR 381.9 million in 2017.