- Company
- Kärcher Ukraine, the official subsidiary of the German company Alfred Kärcher, a global leader in cleaning equipment
- Scale
- Distribution, service, training and a partner network across Ukraine; turnover of €44 million (2024)
- Protagonist
- Managing Director of Kärcher Ukraine
- Decision point
- 2025: the company is ahead of schedule on its €50 million plan
- Key concepts
- Value proposition; new customer segments; dynamic capabilities; organisational resilience; subsidiary autonomy
1. The business model before 2022
- Value proposition: professional and household cleaning equipment; comfort, cleanliness and convenience.
- Customers and channels: household and professional customers; large retail chains (Epicentr, Comfy, ATB), dealers and a service network.
- Management: the classic model of a global brand’s subsidiary - long-term planning, a clear structure and corporate standards.
- Results: in 2021, a record turnover of more than UAH 1 billion (≈ €31 million).
2. The shock: 2022
- In the first month of the war, the company lost up to 90% of its turnover.
- For the first ten days, the company deliberately sold nothing and redirected its resources to humanitarian aid.
- Supplies from Europe stopped for several weeks; blockades at the border; currency fluctuations.
- Priority on people’s safety: evacuation of employees together with their families, housing, salaries paid to everyone regardless of their ability to work, advance payments, company cars and topped-up fuel cards.
“I openly admitted to the team that I did not know how things would turn out. But I knew that we would not give up.”
3. How the business model adapted
| Business model component | Before 2022 | After 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Value proposition | Comfort and cleanliness | Sanitary safety, disinfection, support for critical infrastructure, energy autonomy |
| Customer segments | Household and professional customers | In addition: public procurers, municipal utilities, hospitals, the military; the food industry and healthcare |
| Channels | Retail chains, dealers | Priority on online and direct sales, CRM, TikTok |
| Customer relationships | Standard service | Free training, instructions and service support |
| Key activities | Distribution according to corporate standards | Rapid pilots, a new category - generators (November-December 2022), seasonal preparation |
| Key partners | At least two suppliers per product type | Decentralised logistics (the “dolphin strategy”), routes via Romania, Zammler Ukraine as a strategic ally |
| Management and organisation | Long-term plans, vertical hierarchy | Quarterly planning, regional autonomy including budgets, weekly financial transparency |
“We realised that we no longer sell comfort. We sell resilience.”
4. Four strategic responses to crisis
| Response | Kärcher Ukraine’s decisions |
|---|---|
| Retrenchment | Temporary suspension of sales (10 days); short financial cycles. No staff cuts; some employees were retrained (from trade fairs to logistics and technical support) |
| Persevering | The team and the service network were preserved - “what we stand on”; the product remained unchanged |
| Innovating | A new role for the product and new segments; generators; TikTok and online sales; decentralised logistics |
| Exit | Loss of part of the business in the east of the country (forced rather than chosen by the company) |
5. Key figures
| Indicator | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 (plan) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover, € million | ≈ 31 | ≈ 22 | 36 | 44 | 50 |
| Comment | Record | First month: -90%; year without losses | Winter quarter: +30% vs 2022 | Ahead of schedule |
Figures as reported by the company’s management. The company came through the crisis without financial assistance from its parent company.
6. The manager’s voice
“Processes are not the Bible, they are a tool. If something prevents you from achieving the result, work around it.”
“Most importantly, the head office trusts us. They do not lead us by the hand; they support us as partners.”
7. The 2025 dilemma
The company has grown, but its model relies on autonomy, short planning cycles and demand linked to the war and reconstruction. The team is exhausted. The Managing Director is considering three options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| A. Keep “start-up mode” | Regional autonomy, quarterly plans and rapid pilots as the permanent model |
| B. Institutionalise | Embed the best wartime practices in corporate standards and gradually return to longer planning cycles |
| C. Diversify | Reduce dependence on public procurement and “wartime” categories; refocus on the household and professional market |
8. Discussion questions
- What changed in the business model if the product barely changed? Which Canvas blocks changed as a consequence of the new value proposition?
- Which decisions made before 2022 helped the company through the crisis? How does this relate to the anticipation stage of organisational resilience (Duchek, 2020)?
- Which dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing, transforming) did the company demonstrate in the case of generators?
- Evaluate the decision to sell nothing for the first ten days and to keep paying all employees. What were the risks and benefits?
- Which option (A, B or C) would you recommend? What can Norwegian companies with subsidiaries or partners in Ukraine learn from this case?
Sources: in-depth interview with the Managing Director of Kärcher Ukraine; Kyryliuk, M. V. Figures are reported as stated by the respondent as of 2025.