Reflecting on the past year, we look back at several important milestones for our company. Firstly, we look back on a year of successful growth in the United States. As of 1 January 2024 our Amerimax business unit, servicing the American RV and mobility industry, is a joint venture with Lippert Component Industries, the leading component supplier for the U.S. RV industry. Working together, we greatly improved our performance in terms of delivery and quality and have seen this reflected in healthy growth in the U.S. market.
In our European business, we see that many of our customers are dealing with a rapidly changing environment. When visiting our customers, I hear firsthand how many of them are facing headwinds like a slowing economy and low consumer confidence. At Euramax, we responded to this with an increased focus on creating win-win situations for us and our customers. We do this through product innovation and working together smarter. A good example of this is the introduction of our StrongLite alloy, which saw large-scale adoption for the first time in 2024, allowing our customers to reduce costs and create lighter vehicles. Another example is jointly reviewing processes with our customers: we ask ourselves how we can work smarter and more efficiently, for example through larger batch sizes or better planning.
The challenges of 2024 will not simply disappear overnight and we know that there is a lot more to do come the new year. Again, we will do this with our ‘On your Side’ mentality. For example, we will start testing our latest innovation, SuperiorCoat, with our customers. This is a new coating system that is highly scratch resistant, reducing inefficiencies due to damages in the assembly process of vehicles. In addition to managing economic headwinds, we are also helping our customers work more sustainably. We do this by reducing the footprint of our products, for example by scaling up our new StrongLite alloy consisting of 80% scrap metal. We also do this by making our footprint more transparent: in the new year, we will disclose the carbon footprint of our products on every invoice we send. By doing so, we help our customers understand their own footprint and comply with CSRD requirements.
Long story short, we look back on a challenging, but fruitful 2024 and are ready to take on the challenges and opportunities of 2025. We invite all our customers to continue and deepen our collaboration in the new year. As Euramax, we will be On your Side: please do not hesitate to reach out to me or one of your Euramax contacts to discuss what we can do for you. But first, we look forward to some well-deserved time off and a relaxing holiday season. On behalf of the entire Euramax team, I wish you and your loved ones Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
With warm regards,
Harmen Kruijt, CEO
