Well, if you think of STIHL as just a gas-powered chainsaw manufacturer, you need to keep reading. Sure, STIHL is still making some of the best, arguably the best, gas chainsaws in the world, however, it’s the STIHL battery-powered tools responsible for the greatest growth in the U.S. market. To be more specific, these battery-powered tools eclipsed 10-times market share growth, just in the past 15 months.
Related Read: See how well STIHL did in our Best Batter-Powered Hedge Trimmer Shootout.
STIHL Battery-Powered Tools Growth
It is no surprise that STIHL is a German-based company, however, the roots go pretty deep here as well. STIHL started selling in the US back in 1974, and they now have their own production and sales company located in Virginia Beach, VA. While STIHL is a global company, the U.S. market provides more than 30% overall revenue. The German manufacturer even states that the U.S. is their most important market.
Not only has market share for the STIHL battery-powered tools grown ten-fold, furthermore, STIHL’s battery-powered tools line has tripled in the same time. Overall STIHL sales in the U.S. have more than doubled over the past 10 years, according to Bjoern Fischer, president of STIHL Inc.
“I see further, enormous potential for our market in the area of battery-powered products, particularly as we are able to offer our customers a broad and attractive range of STIHL products via our large sales network of 9,000 servicing dealers,” said Fischer. “In the future, there will also be a greater focus on digital products and services.”
STIHL’s 9,000 dealers receive all their products through eleven (11) distributors. Six of these distributors owned by STIHL, with the remaining five independent. Recently, STIHL invited these distributors to their German headquarters in Waiblingen to discuss U.S. market strategy.
Our Take
Even skeptics must admit STIHL is among the best in the industry/s when it comes to chainsaws, lawncare equipment, and lawn-tools in general. Build quality has always been noticeable in most, if not all, STIHL branded products. Even the STIHL battery-powered tools keep this tradition for build-quality and performance. Most noteworthy, during a time when Amazon’s lawn & garden segment is eclipsing $2B, STIHL continues their tried-and-true method of Dealer-only product sales.
Going against the grain doesn’t seem to bother the German manufacturer and rightly so. They continue to roll out new STIHL battery-powered tools, expanding in the homeowner and professional markets. With this type of market share growth and sales in the US, the future looks bright with STIHL. We anticipate the next product rollout from the orange-and-white.
To find out more information on STIHL Battery-Powered Tools, click here .