Baptista Car Wash Systems has a new owner
Baptista Car Wash Systems has a new owner. His name is Marco Bartels, who has been with the Dutch company for almost 25 years.
Bartels will be assisted by Peter-Hans Peters van Nijenhof, sales manager of the company. The latter has an even longer career with Baptista, dedicating 34 years of his life to Baptista.
“I am confident Bartels is the right man for the job”, Peters van Nijenhof says when asked about the recent developments. “I am now 59 years and don’t see myself working 60 hours a week anymore, to be honest.”
Early last year, Baptista reformed the management board. In the future there will be a stronger focus on growth, professional marketing and sustainability.
Former family business
Baptista used to be a family business, which was started by three brothers in 1949. After the brothers left the company, a son who was less passionate about car washing took over and things got a bit more complicated, according to Nijenhof, who is reluctant to even mention the name of the former owner. He doesn’t want to look back in anger though and is very happy the company is now in trusted hands again.
Despite the murky waters of the past, Baptista grew out to be an important supplier of car wash equipment on the Dutch and European market, be it self-service car vacuums, do-it-yourself car washes and roll-over brush car washes.
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Germany is especially important for Baptista. They manufactured over 800 machines for the German market and run two service points across the border. “Our head office is in Arnhem”, Nijenhof explains their dominance in the east. “If you draw a circle of 250 km around it, you have a potential market of 50 million people. If you can’t make money in that area, you’re not fit for business.”
Sustainable
In the near future, Baptista will put a strong focus on environmentally friendly and energy-efficient machines, where sustainability and water recycling will be at the forefront of the business.
“In almost 75 years, it has been a great achievement to create a company that has become indispensable in the car wash world”, says a proud Bartels. “We now have a company with which we want to serve even more customers. It is up to ‘team Baptista’ to realize this ambition.”
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