Help for Japan.

Japan - a country of high technology and millennia of culture - is currently dealing with one of the most difficult periods in its history. The "land of the rising sun" is not just struggling with a catastrophe. A severe earthquake shook the whole country on 11th March 2001. The Tohoku earthquake was one of the worst quakes in Japanese history with a severity of 9.0. As though the earthquake of historic proportions and the resulting tsunami were not enough, Japan now also has to face a long, extremely hard battle against the nuclear crisis. Huge accidents in the Fukushima nuclear power station are bringing the Japanese people in particular into direct confrontation with the unthinkable consequences of nuclear power. However, they are also forcing people and politicians all over the world to confront the indirect consequences of Fukushima and the safety and possible "residual risks" of atomic power.

Sapporo prepared the successful track for the PistenBully.
Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke, Ulm delivered the first PistenBully to Japan in 1972. The 11th Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan marked the start of international market penetration. We then began to build up the third independent product division of all-terrain vehicles. To date, 1,375 machines have been sold to Japan. This makes Japan - in terms of sales figures - the fifth largest market for Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG after Austria, USA, France and Switzerland. Because of the distance involved, newly ordered PistenBully are despatched in August.

Our partner in Japan is Snow Systems Co. Ltd. - an independent general agency with head office in Tokyo. This houses not only the administrative and sales departments, but also the service centre and the spare parts warehouse. PistenBully are also sold and serviced by the Snow Systems branch near Sapporo, which is close to the ski resorts on Japan's northern island Hokkaido. At the same time, the 20-man Snow Systems team can also call on the branch offices and manpower of the parent company Nippon Cable, which sells the Snow Systems products through its eight branches across Japan.

Countless personal connections have been developed over the years, in addition to many intensive business contacts. "How can I help the people in Japan?" is a frequent question that many people have asked over the last few weeks. With 20,000 euros Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug would like to make a small contribution to alleviating the suffering of the many people in need. "We have made the donation through our agency in Tokyo. Our Japanese partners know best where the money can be used in a meaningful way", says Hans-Peter Müller, Head of Sales & Marketing for PistenBully. The donation has already been passed on to a sub-division of the Japanese Red Cross who are focussed on caring for victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

We - Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG with the whole PistenBully-Team - hope that "the sun will rise" again as soon as possible for the people of Japan and they can return to normal life.