Stating that Löher Escalator, which was established as a small-scale workshop in Izmir 56 years ago and has achieved extraordinary success in the sector by constantly growing and developing in its ongoing journey, has joined the Meteor Group as of 2022 and started to continue its activities, Zafer Aydın, President of the Industry Group of Meteor Group, said, "The Löher brand is now determined to continue to be the pioneer of the sector by making new breakthroughs in vertical transportation solutions within the Meteor Group. With its professional team, technology, knowledge and experience, customer and solution focus, it will achieve new successes as a reliable partner.”

Hello Mr. Zafer, I am really glad that a valuable brand such as Löher will continue its activities within the Meteor Group. We hope that Löher, which is a valuable brand for Turkey, will continue on its way by doubling its past achievements. First of all, could you give brief information about Meteor Group to our readers?
Hello. Yes, we are happy and excited to add a valuable brand such as Löher. Meteor Group started its activities with the fuel sector in 2005. Afterwards, he made successful attempts in the sectors of construction, agriculture, energy, tourism, culture, and industry. Meteor Group, which continues its investments in many areas today, contributes to the development of the country's economy by working diligently for a sustainable future by taking advantage of its past experiences and accumulations while stepping into new sectors.

As the Meteor Group, can you give information about the structuring and business development process you will carry out with the Löher brand?
Löher, which was established as a small-scale workshop in Izmir 56 years ago and has achieved extraordinary success in the sector by constantly growing and developing in its ongoing journey, has joined the Meteor Group in 2022 and started to continue its activities. The Löher brand is now determined to continue to be the pioneer of the sector by making new breakthroughs in vertical transportation solutions within the Meteor Group. It will achieve new successes as a reliable partner with its professional team, technology, knowledge and experience, customer, and solution focus.

What is Löher's road map?
Meteor Group is one of the two companies that produce the escalator in Turkey and share the domestic production part with the Löher brand today. Within the scope of the restructuring studies started in 2022, it creates a serious employment in the region and continues to produce high value-added solutions with machine park investments in accordance with Industry 4.0. Our goal is to increase our production capacity by 3 times by the end of 2025.  As Meteor Group, we aim to produce high value-added solutions by growing not only numerically but also qualitatively in our investments for the ongoing capacity increase with its factories established in İzmir and Iğdır. All our forward-looking plans and investments are based on being a solution partner to our customers by continuing to do extraordinary things.

Can you tell us about your product range, the services you offer for the sector and your organizational structure?
Meteor Group is present everywhere in vertical transportation with its Löher, Avelice and Löwe brands. It produces indoor and outdoor and heavy-duty escalators, escalators in Izmir and human, cargo, stretcher, service elevators in Iğdır and offers smart, environmentalist, sustainable and safe solutions that will add speed, comfort, and value to our daily lives. It is our most distinctive feature to be a company of a series of firsts in the sector that accomplishes extraordinary things with our innovative solutions at every stage from the design stage to the end user by using modern production and management techniques.

We have a sales organization based in Istanbul. Our resident team here makes field visits both domestically and abroad and follows foreign projects in our country and especially in neighboring countries. With our strong technical infrastructure in our factories, we develop flexible solutions that are compatible with customer demands and expectations. After the sales and production processes, we provide assembly, maintenance, repair, and spare parts with our solution partners both in our country and in the geographies we sell. We are the end-to-end solution partner of our customers.

What are the activities you carry out to increase your market share?
The successful projects of Löher and Avelice from the past are our biggest driving force. This driving force, combined with the synergy of Meteor Group's financial strength and experienced technical and commercial teams, makes our job even easier. Intense fair participation and field visits, always being accessible are our differences that make us stand out in growing our market share. In addition, we are in an intensive sales organization structure both in central European countries and in Russia, Ukraine, and Turkic Republics. 

Can you tell us about your current investments and R&D studies?
As I mentioned before, apart from qualified employment, our machine park investments in accordance with Industry 4.0 continue. In addition, we continue our activities within Yalova Teknopark for our R&D projects that will make a difference in the sector.

Could you give information about your export activities for 2023? 
2023 is a return year for the Löher brand in a sense. We anticipate that we will close this year by allocating 50percentof our total production to the domestic market and 50percent to the export market. With its export practices and logistical advantages from the past, Löher mainly serves EU countries and Avelice serves Russia, Ukraine, Turkic Republics and Middle East and African countries. However, of course, there are transitions between these markets, and they will continue to be. 

As a company, what have you determined for sustainable export policy for 2024? What are the countries you focus on in particular?
While our export policy for 2024 is an active player in metro, station, airport, etc. projects of central European countries, especially Germany and England, with our high value-added solutions, we want to continue to take part in projects in Russia, Ukraine, and the Turkic Republics.

How was 2023 for you? What are your goals and expectations in the upcoming period? Do you have any new products, investments, or projects next?
At the beginning of March, we received very positive feedback at the Asansör Istanbul fair. Löher's comeback made an impact in the industry. These positive reactions started to come back to us as orders for both Löher and Avelice. We are very motivated to see that the sector needs such a return. In the coming period, we will continue to be a player that makes a difference in the sector with our investments in both manpower and technology. Of course, we have new product investments and projects, but it is too early to share them at the moment. 

Meteor Group, with its Löher, Avelice and Löwe brands, will continue to be one of the most important players in this sector and will continue its investments as before. It will continue to facilitate human life with its experience from the past in vertical transportation, accumulation, qualified human resources, innovative, technological, smart, environmentalist and holistic solutions.