Stringo is a family company that cares about its roots but that is also expanding to become a global enterprise. Thanks to a unique product and a targeted marketing campaign, many major car manufacturers now use the company’s vehicle mover. And they plan to continue to develop for many years to come.
The product as a passion
As a company, Stringo has a single focus: to develop and manufacture the world’s best vehicle mover. When it comes to serving its niche market, Stringo is head and shoulders above the rest. While competing brands exist, no other company devotes all its energy exclusively to the manufacture of vehicle movers.
“For us, it all started when my father noticed what a hard time a client had when it was necessary to move cars around the showroom,” says Nina Thelin, CEO of Stringo. “It took three men and a lot of time. He thought there should be an easier way to go about it. And that’s how it all began.”
Stringo was founded in the mid 1980s by Nina’s father, Göran Fahlén. Initially, the company served as a mechanical subcontractor for the region’s industries and as a supplier of industrial doors and steel structures.
But by the end of the 1980s, Stringo had already developed its first vehicle mover – a unique product that Göran was certain would fill a void in the market. But interest from the major Swedish car showrooms was tepid at first. The product received a much needed boost when Audi and BMW each bought a Stringo. It was 1993. Since then, the company has enjoyed steady growth until a few years ago, when the market finally opened its eyes to the product’s potential and sales took off.
“Dad can be so stubborn about certain things, but in a good way,” smiles Nina Thelin. “He was so sure Stringo would succeed. And I’ve probably inherited some of his tenacity. Just like our employees, we’re also very driven and have a real love for our product. It’s taken many years of hard work to get where we are today – a global company whose headquarters are where its heart is, right here in the High Coast.”
For Stringo, a conscious effort to market and develop its product led to more orders. Every machine that leaves the factory in Nyland is customized to the client’s unique set of needs. Lead times are short, and the company enjoys a close relationship with its customers and dealers. The company values these strengths. However, it has also chosen to focus on increasing its presence in the global marketplace in a manner that allows it to retain its close contact with its clients, even if they are on the other side of the world.
“We’re now in an intensive development phase; we’re devoting considerable resources to strengthening our R&D team and to reviewing the entire quality chain,” explains Nina Thelin. “At the same time, we have opened a subsidiary in the United States and continue to evaluate our global sales channels. It’s very exciting, but also challenging, because we want to ensure that we build the company in the right way as we endeavor to meet the demand of our customers. For example, it’s very important for me to find the right people, the right skills – ones we can grow with. It makes me very happy when I’m successful in that respect.”
In recent years, Stringo has grown from 14 employees to 25, four of which work at the company’s Detroit offices. The product is world leading and the company is experiencing some growing pains – but everyone is doing their best to work out the kinks. Challenges aside, nothing will dissuade Stringo from its mission to continue to develop and prosper.
“Although we have a huge head start in the market, it’s important that we never get too comfortable,” says Nina Thelin. “It’s not in my nature to do so, either; my passion lies in continually improving and developing our business together with our staff. Today we deliver our Stringos to very different sorts of clients, but they all have the same basic need: to move cars in a smooth and efficient manner. That’s true of everyone from automotive industry manufacturer test labs, design centers and Crash Centers to smaller customers such as showrooms, car museums and private collectors of valuable cars. Our product is truly our passion and we intend to continue to develop it for many years to come.”
