How was 2024 for Kärcher?

In 2024, Kärcher Australia celebrated its 40th anniversary, commencing its Australia subsidiary on 20 February 1984. Stefan Patzke, member of the board of management, joined the Australian team for the celebration.

2024 was marked by a challenging consumer market, with tightening conditions and rising costs across industries. This year, Kärcher focused on consolidating its core business in Oceania while accelerating growth in industrial categories. As part of its ongoing investment strategy, Kärcher’s latest key development is the Kärcher Center and Kärcher Clean Park in Hoppers Crossing.

This new site offers consumers an immersive experience with Kärcher’s advanced car wash systems including automatic, manual and super bay for boats, caravans and trucks up to 4m. The Kärcher Center is a retail store stocked with a full range of commercial and consumer products as well as Kärcher machine servicing.

The professional business unit at Kärcher Australia had another year of steady growth off the back of key tender results, a growing industrial customer base as well as a continued focus in the retail and BSC sectors. Our established dealer network again was in growth with new additional key partners starting to gain traction in their respective regions.

Behind the scenes, we have seen continued investment in our people, with a range of different levels of leadership training programs externally facilitated throughout the year. Kärcher continued to support a growing service organisation as well as the implementation of a regional sales management structure to better support the sales teams across Oceania.

What do you see as your main focus for 2025? What role does sustainability play in your plans for 2025?

Kärcher’s key focuses for 2025 are enhancing product awareness, further investing in people development and training, and driving sustainability and innovation. Insights from a recent customer experience project will guide initiatives to leverage identified opportunities throughout the year, supported by a global sales excellence project. Kärcher is dedicated to meeting evolving customer needs by remaining at the forefront of sustainable and

innovative cleaning solutions.

Sustainability is a core focus for Kärcher, both globally and locally. In Australia, we’ve completed a sustainability report with key findings and recommendations to guide our initiatives in 2025. Globally, Kärcher continues its innovation efforts, developing additional detergents to grow our current range that aligns with our sustainability goals and will be ready for market in 2025.

What trends do you see in the cleaning industry? What are the biggest challenges facing the cleaning industry right now? Where are the biggest opportunities?

Sustainability is a driving force behind the ongoing transformation of the cleaning industry, as both consumers and businesses increasingly seek eco-friendly solutions. This has led

to a significant rise in the demand for biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning agents and water-saving technologies. Kärcher continues to bring new products to market, addressing the key opportunities to align with the priorities of its customers.

Simultaneously, the rising costs of ownership and labour, coupled with market pressure for lower prices, has made training and people development a key area of focus. Kärcher is committed to addressing this by providing evolving training pathways, including online and in-person platforms, to ensure customers stay informed about the latest machines and

cleaning practices.

What does good leadership mean to you?

Good leaders establish a vision and set goals, communicate clearly and delegate responsibilities. Great leaders, however, transcend these fundamentals by developing and executing impactful strategies, nurturing strong relationships, empowering their teams and exhibiting high emotional intelligence. They embrace change, prioritise team growth and achieve results whilst fostering a positive high performance culture. These attributes set

great leaders apart from good ones, enabling them to inspire their teams and achieve extraordinary outcomes. These attributes set great leaders apart from good ones, enabling them to inspire their teams and achieve extraordinary outcomes.

What is one thing you want people to know about the cleaning industry in 2025?

Kärcher is committed to continue to support and service the cleaning industry. We appreciate and thank all our partners and importantly all the cleaning staff that work tirelessly across the

industry. In 2025 Kärcher has a range of new products hitting the market. Watch this space as the innovation starts to make its way to Australia and New Zealand.