A lot has been said about global meltdown. How do you see it from
the top of the luxury category, where quality is more important than
quantity?
I wouldn’t really call it a meltdown. I would say that we are having a small
hiccup, and hopefully it will not last more than 18 months. Everybody will
have to go through it and there is nobody who is not going to be affected. We
have not planned any increase in supply and will have to be really careful in the
next 12-18 months to manage the after-crisis. I don’t even think it’s a negative
thing. I think this crisis is an opportunity for all of us to re-assess our expectations,
our beliefs and think about where we have to just re-adjust something.
So it’s more of a correction process than a so-called meltdown?
Yes. We need a slam to wake up. And this a big wake-up call. So let’s get
things organised, try to get through these difficult moments and become
stronger. That’s the way we are seeing it and that’s how we are preparing.
What are your priorities for the next 18 months? How are they going to
be different from the last year?
We have different responsibilities. We have social responsibility towards our
employees and retailers, where we have to try to understand where and how to
keep them and give them security for the next 12-18 months. They are having
a tough time too. As a brand you have a responsibility towards them. So that’s
another side of business. And I guess we have to consolidate our products.
When it comes to the product mix, you would have to juggle a bit to get
products more suitable for the present.
Yes, something like that. On the other side, we have huge opportunities too.
We are still producing only 5,000 time pieces. I would say many countries are
having problems, including China, though we are not present there in a big
way. Still, there are big opportunities. We have opportunities in India too,
where we are not optimally present. We have opportunities in USA where we
have only 22 retailers. So there is a geographical potential we have, which we have to address. So the topics for the
moment are the employees, new timepieces,
new developments and geographical
expansion.
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A. Lange & Söhne
CEO Fabian Krone discloses to
Mitrajit Bhattacharya
that
with understatement
being the theme of
the times, Richard
Lange Pour le Mérite
has its heart in the
right place |
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