Sieber does not venture a precise forecast for this year, but believes slight growth is possible.
The German model railway manufacturer Märklin recorded increased demand during the corona pandemic. For the market leader, this is particularly noticeable in the service hotline. “There are extremely many people who are new to the hobby and need construction help,” says managing partner Florian Sieber about the German company's customers.
Currently there is no lack of demand, but rather that production capacities are limited. Due to the corona crisis, the Märklin factories at the German headquarters in Göppingen and in Hungary were shut down for weeks in the spring.
112 million euros in sales
At the beginning of the year Sieber had spoken of an increase in sales of five to 117 million euros in the 2019/2020 financial year. With sales of 112 million euros, the business year ended at the previous year's level. Sieber does not venture a precise forecast for this year, but believes slight growth is possible.
The bobby car producer Simba Dickie in Fürth, Bavaria, took over the insolvent model railway manufacturer Märklin in 2013. After years of stagnation, sales had recently increased again.
The model railroad hobby had recently picked up speed again and also brought increasing demand for other manufacturers. For a few years now, the trend has been steadily increasing, says Ulrich Brobeil from the German Association of the Toy Industry. Most manufacturers are currently very satisfied with the sales development.
