UBI Luxembourg students visited the Arnold Kontz Group in Luxembourg and gained a better understanding of the company itself, as well as the bicycle and automotive markets in Luxembourg. Arnold Kontz, Sr., originally founded the company in 1917 to retail bicycles, but he quickly became a manufacturer, selling his AKOR bicycle brand. The family-run business has expanded over the last century to include motorcycles and cars, and has evolved into the successful Arnold Kontz Group we know today.
The company has always been forward-thinking, adapting to advancements in technology and changes in the market. In the late 1930s, the company diversified by branching out from bicycles and adding electronics to their offering (think radio and electrical appliances). In the early 1940s, they entered the automotive industry when they became the exclusive retailer for Gillet Motorcycle brand in Luxembourg. Then in the late 1940s, they became an exclusive importer of BMW motorcycles, and soon after for their cars, to the Grand Duchy. With the technological advancements of the 1970s, Arnold Kontz Group was one of the first companies in Luxembourg to incorporate computers in their business functions, yet another example of incorporating technology.
Although consistently successful over the years, the Group reached a particularly high point at the end of the 1980s, by which time they had captured an extremely high percentage of the automobile market share in Luxembourg with BMW cars. In the 1990s, the Group expanded in two main directions: they invested in real estate for their dealerships and increased the number of local retail partners. They also partnered with British automobile manufacturers like MG and Jaguar Land Rover. These partnerships built a foundation so that when the new Mini came out in 2000, it was extremely successful in Luxembourg.
Since 2011, the Arnold Kontz Group has been under the skillful leadership of Benji Kontz, the fourth generation in the family-run business. In 2016, Mr. Kontz took the strategic decision to transfer the Luxembourg BMW distribution brand to the Swedish company Bilia.
Following this strategic decision, the Arnold Kontz group focused on their British automobile partners, including Lotus and Aston Martin. In 2017, the company purchased and renovated a building near the central train station for Cycles Arnold Konst, the bicycle division of their business, This investment would eventually prove extremely profitable due to the Covid-19 pandemic during which the demand for bicycles skyrocketed.
The Arnold Kontz Group has proven time and time again that they are forward-thinking and adapt to the changes in the market. The keys to their success have been their continuous innovation, their high-quality products, their modern distribution channels, and their strong local partnerships. These qualities have served them well through four generations of profitable leadership, and will surely take them successfully into the future.
