STIHL EVENT
that we have to be where the customers are, and if they are in the battery business stronger in DIY, we have to meet them at DIY. We’ re adopting that, and we’ re also not dogmatic about it.”
Hornbach is a large retail chain in Europe with more than 150 stores in nine European countries including Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and others. Bauhaus is an even larger European retailer serving the home improvement market. It has nearly 300 stores in 19 countries. The Stihl product offerings vary at both of these retailers but are mainly residential-focused battery tools.
North America
Traub referred to North America as“ the land where milk and honey flows,” and also,“ our largest and certainly most complex market.” Gas-powered products continue to lead sales, at least on the commercial side of outdoor power equipment.“ And regulations are actually dialed back by the Trump government. They don’ t care so much about climate change. It’ s evilized in many ways,” he said.
He said that many equipment users continue to question battery performance and runtime.“ We have a different challenge here,” said Traub. Answering the‘ why Stihl battery’ question, he said,“ is a much tougher game in the U. S. We need to focus on total cost of ownership throughout the life of the product.”
For American consumers( and municipal governments) noise is as much of an issue as are emission standards. He said the U. S. team is working hard to address the productivity questions posed by com-
STIHL BATTERY ASSEMBLY GALLERY
Stihl acquires battery cells from Samsung( cylindrical 21700-size seen here) and five other manufacturers.
Stihl’ s AP batteries use pouch-style cells, seen here held in place by a robotic carrier on assembly line.
Lasers weld the connectors to the battery cells. And cameras document the process and check for quality at steps throughout the assembly.
The battery assembly system is mostly handled by robots, but there are human interactions along the way. Here an AR 3000L backpack battery nears its completion, with 90 battery cells inside.
18 OPE + October 2025 www. Ope-Plus. com