For more than 26 years, international transport and logistics provider AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG has been serving the entire automotive industry with a full range of logistics and transportation offerings. By the end of June AsstrA’s dedicated Automotive Logistics Division plans to achieve a turnover of 1 mln euros – 14% more than an in the same period last year – and has already hit 691,700 euros in the first 5 months of 2018.
AsstrA Automotive Division Head Nikolaj Krokun believes the potential in the automotive industry is constantly growing:
“Our team provides logistics solutions for diverse automotive industry requirements: we organize the transportation of tires, heavy lift cargo, light cars from factories, and spare parts from one manufacturer to another or their warehouses. We also ensure compliance with all customs requirements,” says Mr. Krokun.
This year the most automotive industry shipments consisted of aluminum with 42.6% of AsstrA’s cargo volume, tires with 34.6%, oil products with 12.9%, cars with 3.3%, and spare vehicle parts with 2.6%. The AsstrA Automotive Logistics Division’s main trade lanes include Russia-Italy, Belarus-Russia, Romania-Poland, Russia-Germany and Poland-Russia.
“Alternative fuel-powered smart vehicles are on track to replace gasoline-powered ones. Asian brands are taking over sales in the European market. Old leaders are rapidly being replaced by new industry players, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. These are only a few of the factors fueling the growth of automotive industry production volumes. Rising accordingly is demand for transportation and logistics services to deliver these products to any part of the world,” says Mr. Krokun.
The expeditors’ efficient work and efforts have paid off: this month two giant representatives from the automotive industry have become AsstrA Clients.
“The key to our success is that every AsstrA employee can work with the Automotive Logistics Division. It takes a great team to provide our Clients with the most flexible solutions in the market. As Henry Ford used to say – coming together is the beginning; staying together is progress; working together is success,” smiles Mr. Krokun.
One of these new Clients, from Sweden, is the world’s largest automotive safety supplier with sales to all major global car manufacturers. The second Client is a Korean multinational producing high quality tires for trucks, buses, passenger cars, and racing cars.
“When companies of such size put their trust in AsstrA, we get a boost of motivation to continue working even harder and dreaming even bigger. This year is shaping up to be really successful and we can’t wait to see what Partnering with these two automotive industry leaders will bring to us in the future,” says Yulia Kashtalyan, Deputy Director of Sales and Marketing at AsstrA.
The market for automobiles and specialized vehicles has been growing over the past several years and is the main driver behind the export of cars into foreign markets. AsstrA specialists have noticed that cross-border automotive shipments are therefore growing. Increasing mobility of people and tourism also lead to greater demand for logistics services related to automobiles.
Currently, AsstrA is developing optimal routes for the international transportation of automobiles across all European and Asian countries, including the Baltic states, the Balkans, the CIS, and Central Asia.