German giant hopes to tap 'great growth potential' of China elevator market
German industrial conglomerate thyssenkrupp launches a 248-meter-high elevator test tower in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province.
German industrial conglomerate thyssenkrupp launched its world's tallest elevator test tower in Guangdong province on Friday to tap China’s “great growth potential” in elevator market.
The 248-meter-high test tower in China's southern Zhongshan City cost the group around 356 million yuan (US$56 million).
It has 13 shafts, of which eight can be used to test products, including high-speed elevators moving up to 18 meters per second and its advanced products such as TWIN elevators – in which two cabs travel independently to save time and energy use.
The group also plans to test its next-generation product MULTI inside the tower in the near future, which operates without steel cables or ropes, thus can move sideways as well as up and down, according to its public announcement.
The Zhongshan-based tower is to further support thyssenkrupp’s business development in China, which provides great potential in years to come amid fast urbanization, said chief executive officer Heinrich Hiesinger.
China is the world’s largest elevator market with nearly 500,000 units installed every year. The density of elevators in China is rising as more buildings need elevators to meet special needs such as more privacy, which suggests changes in consumers’ mentality and behavior.
Sales of thyssenkrupp in China reached 3 billion euros (US$3.71 billion) in the fiscal year from October 2016 to September 2017, up 15.4 percent from a year ago, “after enhancing investment in elevator and automobile industries,” said Gao Yan, its chief executive officer for China.
