powered by experience, driven by passion. COMPANY PROFILE EXPERIENCE EXPERTISE VISION KEY FIGURES NETWORK CONTACT COMPANY PROFILE The Beherman Group today AUTOMOTIVE The Group’s core activity is the automotive business. Working with the Mitsubishi brand, Beherman has been the official importer of Mitsubishi cars and FUSO for Belgium and Luxemburg since 2012. Beherman manages a Mitsubishi network of 58 dealers and 32 agents, as well as 39 FUSO distributors in Belux. Beherman also runs its own retail outlet in Brussels. In and outside of Belgium its other activities include real estate, finance, reinsurance, media, IT (Automotive Systems) and leasing. REAL ESTATE For more information about our real estate projects, please check the Health Invest website AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS - ICT Automotive Systems is Beherman's ICT-unit, providing both hardware and software solutions to the automotive industry. It has developed a specialized dealer management software application: i-Reach. The software was initially developed for the Saab and Mazda networks. However, the recently launched, multi-brand software 'i-Reach', is now already used at some 100 dealerships and is referenced as one of the preferred vendors by Toyota Belgium, Mitsubishi Belgium and Ford Belgium. With a highly specialised team in both development and support, Automotive Systems provides dealers with market-leading hardware and software tools and the appropriate high quality support. EXPERIENCE TIMELINE An impressively long list... 1851 Creation of "Etablissements Ragheno", specialised in the production of railway material. 1895 Creation of Tram-Car Nord-Midi (the predecessor of Beherman Auto), specialising in transport by horse-drawn trams between the Brussels North and Brussels South stations. 1899 Etablissements Ragheno becomes "Société Anonyme Usines Ragheno". 1936 Joseph Beherman becomes the distributor for Chrysler. 1946 Creation of the company « Beherman - Demoen » and distribution of Plymouth and Chrysler 1953 Assembly and distribution of Borgward, Hansa and Goliath cars for Belgium and Luxemburg. 1954 Usines Ragheno starts with the car assembly of Peugeot. 1955 Import and distribution of the Facel Vega brand. 1957 Import and distribution in Belgium and Luxembourg of the Rover and Land Rover brands. And later MG and Morris brands. 1958 Import of Skoda for Belgium and Luxembourg 1959 Import and distribution of Maserati for Belgium. 1964 Production-site in Seneffe (Wallonia Belgium) for the assembly of Morris cars. 1968 Import and distribution of Jensen for Belgium 1971 Import of Mazda into Belgium and Luxembourg. 1978 Construction of the BDX, the wheeled armoured vehicle sold to the Belgian army. 1979 • Import of Saab Automobiles into Belgium and Luxembourg • Beherman Auto is created by the merger of Usines Ragheno and Bruxelloise d'Auto-Transports. 1981 First victory of a Japanese car at the 24 hours of Spa ; the Mazda RX7, a race-program set up by the Belgian Importer. Click here to see the video. 1984 Beherman becomes the importer of Bentley and Rolls Royce cars. 1988 The Belgian driver Pascal Gaban becomes World Champion Rally Group N (FIA production cup) with a Mazda 323 4WD, a race-program set up by the Beherman Group. 1989 The Thierry Stanley BEHERMAN prize is created by Ms. Simone Beherman in memory of her son, born in 1950 and who died in 1987. An art historian, his main topic of research was the life and work of Godfried Schalcken, an artist whom he helped rediscover. Offered once a year to a student, and this from either the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) or the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the prize will be awarded to the best dissertation exploring the paintings or engravings of the XVI, XVII or XVIII century. 1990 Beherman starts the development of an industrial area in Mechelen Belgium, on the site of the former Usines Ragheno. 1991 The Belgian driver Grégoire de Mévius becomes world champion Rally Group N (FIA production cup) with a Mazda 323 4WD, a race-program set up by the Beherman Group. 1996 • The company leaves the stock exchange. • The sale of the import of Land Rover to its head office in England. 2007 As a part of a global strategy, Mazda Europe acquires the import of Mazda Belgium 2009 Beherman becomes the importer of Saab in the Netherlands. 2011 December 2011: Saab Automobile stops the production, and Beherman stops the distribution, of Saab in the Benelux but the group still stands by the warranty and the distribution (Benelux + France) of the Saab parts provided by Orio A.B (ex-Saab parts), owned by the Swedish government. 2012 February 2012: Beherman becomes the importer of Mitsubishi Motors in Belgium & Luxemburg. Import and distribution of FUSO trucks (a Daimler Group Brand). 2013 Creation of Sustainable Development Mechelen N.V. (SDM), a company active in the property and construction sector (partnership with the experienced Bopro Group). 2015 Inauguration of the new headquarters of the Flemish Red Cross in Flanders, located on the site of Ragheno Park, Mechelen. 1851 1895 1899 1936 1946 1953 1954 1955 1957 1958 1959 1964 1968 1971 1978 1979 1981 1984 1988 1989 1990 1991 1996 2007 2009 2011 2012 2013 2015 EXPERTISE Quality-oriented management processes and sector-specific know-how in a multicultural context, plus a wealth of experience. CAR DISTRIBUTION As importer for Mitsubishi Motors (and FUSO) in Belgium and Luxembourg, Beherman ensures : A 100% Mitsubishi norm-compliant dealership network, consistently achieving high rankings in Customer Satisfaction Surveys. Full logistics facilities for cars and parts, as well as trainings and presentations premises. A highly dedicated and responsive management team and staff working closely and in harmony with Mitsubishi Motor Corporation, FUSO – A Daimler Group Brand. Operations in a multicultural context: two main Benelux languages, French and Dutch, and also in English for International & Diplomatic Sales. Beherman has acquired an outstanding expertise in car distribution over the years: It has imported more than 420,000 cars as distributor in Belgium & Luxemburg of Saab & Mazda over more than 40 years. It introduced the 4 Wheel Drive Concept to Belgium and Luxembourg with Land Rover more than 40 years ago. It has supplied multi-purpose defence vehicles to the Belgian army, worked with the US army for 25 years and was also a supplier to the Belgian army and police. IT MANAGEMENT Beherman provides a wide range of IT-related services to facilitate dealer business operations: Training and technical support with local workshops (including PDI), helpdesk and in-house training facilities Parts support for optimal stock management including ordering helpdesk and warehouse and night delivery Stock financing facilities Car ordering and central car buffer stock Integrated IT & Customer Relationship Management support with in-house IT & CRM helpdesk Uniform Dealer Internet & Intranet system Our customers: Axiam Fiat (group), Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota... MARKETING & SALES Beherman provides its dealers with extensive marketing and sales assistance: Dealer marketing support, including local advertising, handling (media and direct marketing), regional events support, in-house “launching platform” with VIP and pre-sales activities, and Uniform Dealer Internet & Intranet system. Fleet support with Fleet Manager and a central pool of fleet cars In-house Customer Support Officer “One stop shopping” tools, including Financial Services Programs (insurance, leasing, finance...) Business Manager, providing Control & Accounting advice THE BEHERMAN VISION Driving our vision forward... Our corporate vision for the future is based on the secure foundation of experience and tradition. Beherman is a private company, with stable shareholders and a rock-solid base, giving us the strength we need to continue the sure and steady growth we have enjoyed over the years, and intend to maintain in the future. We will continue to expand and develop our core business as well as our other activities in and outside Belgium. Our vision has always been commensurate with quality, and we wish to continue to develop strong brands and provide our customers with impeccable service incorporating a fast, responsive approach and a single point-of-contact policy. Flexibility and adaptability are vital to our company’s future. We will invest in new technologies where appropriate and adopt an evolutionary approach for our tools and services. Our aim is to respond efficiently and effectively to new markets in a multicultural context. KEY FIGURES The figures speak for themselves NETWORK PHILOSOPHY Driving our vision forward... PHILOSOPHY DEALERS Our dealer network philosophy In its choice of dealers, Beherman will continue to give priority to small or medium family-owned businesses entirely dedicated to one or two brands in relatively low volume niche markets. A quality-oriented mindset and premises are essential. We will pursue our measures to avoid an “unproductive headcount” at dealership level by continuing to offer extensive support. We will facilitate their business operations for optimal service quality by continuing to provide a full back-office service package allowing the dealer to focus on selling and servicing. CONTACT Beherman Group CONTACT BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE TEAM INDUSTRIEWEG, 3 2880 BORNEM BELGIUM +32 (0)3 890 91 11 +32 (0)3 890 91 18 press@beherman.com PRESS DEPARTEMENT: Ann Wittemans +32 (0)3 890 90 79 press@beherman.com © 2015 Beherman Group