Sortimo strengthens presence in western Switzerland
Sortimo plans and builds customized equipment for company vehicles - from the base plate to the roof rack to the complete in-vehicle equipment. The company, headquartered in Oberhasli, Zurich, is now strengthening its presence in French-speaking Switzerland with the branch in Le Mont sur Lausanne.
After more than 20 years of successful partnership, Sortimo Walter Rüegg AG is moving closer to Gerber Frères Sàrl in Lausanne. The company is a proven conversion partner in the commercial vehicle industry in French-speaking Switzerland and will now be fully integrated into the Sortimo network. "We want to build on our previous cooperation, expand it and benefit from valuable synergies and the simplification of processes that the takeover will bring," emphasizes Peter Rüegg, managing director and owner of Sortimo Walter Rüegg AG, adding, "As a leading Swiss in-vehicle equipment specialist, we see great potential in Western Switzerland and want to continue investing and growing there." As part of the merger, Sortimo Walter Rüegg AG, headquartered in Zurich Unterland, will integrate the Lausanne site into the proven processes of the growing Sortimo organization. The existing employees will all remain with the company and the existing team will be continuously increased.
Lausanne site with new management
Michèle Abt will be the new site manager in Lausanne. The fleet and commercial vehicle specialist has been working for Sortimo Walter Rüegg AG as project manager fleets at the Bern site since the beginning of 2020. Previously, she served as Head of Sales and Marketing at Post Company Cars AG, where she was a member of the management team. The bilingual native of Lake Constance is looking forward to strengthening the market for vehicle fitters in Western Switzerland with her team. Among other things, she is focusing on more efficient processes, which will ultimately also benefit customers. Michèle Abt looks positively to the future and adds: "By changing various processes and adapting them to the proven processes of the other Sortimo branches, we want to shorten the installation times and thus the idle time of the vehicles for our customers and ensure on-time installation. Our project managers can advise existing customers and potential new customers even better and in a more solution-oriented way thanks to their great expertise and the deepened cooperation with the head office and the other Sortimo branches. And last but not least, thanks to the new processes, we can also handle larger fleets more efficiently".
Present in all regions of Switzerland
With the acquisition of Gerber Frères Sàrl, the leading manufacturer of in-vehicle equipment confirms its national forward strategy "expansion instead of downsizing". Currently Sortimo Walter Rüegg AG employs more than 110 people at 4 locations in Switzerland (Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, Lausanne). Ticino is covered by the partnership with Brico SA in Manno. It thus offers individual remodeling solutions from a single source in all language regions of Switzerland.
According to the company, which was founded over 40 years ago, up to 150 vehicles are completely dismantled each week. The service includes the entire planning and installation of complete vehicle interiors, personal consultation with CAD in a demo vehicle at the customer's premises or in the company's own showroom, a collection and delivery service for customer vehicles, and free replacement vehicles.
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