Ernst Prost, CEO of German oil specialist supplier Liqui Moly, has announced that he will be leaving the company on 22nd February 2022; the date of his 65th birthday. Prost has been with the company for 31 years and, in an often-emotional open letter to colleagues, he says that “it feels as though I’m leaving my great love, knowing full well that I’ll miss her terribly.”
Liqui Moly’s turnover increased by 7.1 per cent to a record 611 million euro in 2020. The United Kingdom, where Liqui Moly more than doubled its sales, played a particularly important role in this. Given the devastating effects of the pandemic on the global economy and the decline in global consumption of oil and fuel, this is a great achievement. Revenue halved to 25 million euro – partly because the company invested almost 45 million euro in marketing measures during the crisis. In addition, more than 100 new employees were hired. This brings the total number of employees to 989 at the end of 2020.
Liqui Moly has been represented in the MotoGP Motorcycle World Championship for eight years. It is now further expanding its commitment. The oil manufacturer will be title sponsor of the race in its home country, which is to be called the Liqui Moly Motorcycle Grand Prix of Germany. “This increases our brand visibility all over the world,” says Ernst Prost, managing director of Liqui Moly.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, German oil and additive specialist Liqui Moly’s managing director Ernst Prost has promised employees that “nobody will be laid off. If need be, I’ll waive my salary.”
German oil manufacturer Liqui Moly is the official sponsor of the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, held in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland, which starts on 8 May 2020. The company has supported ice hockey since the 2017 IIHF World Championship, hosted by Germany and France.
The Pentecost weekend will see the start of this year’s MercedesCup. It marks Liqui Moly’s eighth year as premium sponsor of the renowned tennis event, which will take place in Stuttgart, Germany, from 8 to 16 June. There is method behind this far-sighted approach.
The German oil and additive specialist Liqui Moly has signed an advertising deal with Formula 1. It will advertise on the race track at eleven races, one of a few select brands. “We hope that out of the more than one billion viewers who follow this spectacle on television all over the world every year, it may occur to some of them to take a closer look at Liqui Moly and purchase our products,” explains CEO Ernst Prost. Formula 1 is not new to the lubricant brand; Liqui Moly was involved with Team Jordan in the 2000s.
Liqui Moly’s first worldwide online campaign was “a resounding success,” the German oil and additive specialist states. The target the company set itself was one billion impressions. “In fact it went so well that we ultimately achieved 1.6 billion impressions,” says CEO Ernst Prost.
During its first year as part of the Würth Group Liqui Moly has chalked up a new record turnover, but growth has been more subdued than previously. The German oil and additive specialist recorded a turnover of 544 million euros, just two per cent more than the previous year. “International trade disputes, the hot summer and increasing costs, especially the dramatically increased crude oil prices, have all contributed to the significant slowing down of our earnings growth,” says Ernst Prost, Liqui Moly CEO.
Liqui Moly rang in the last quarter of the year with a record result. In October, the company booked a turnover of 53.8 million euro. With that, the high reached eleven months ago is already history. “Our overall concept and the wide product range are the cornerstones of this success,” said Ernst Prost, managing director of the oil and additives specialist from Germany.
The oil and additive specialist Liqui Moly is heading toward a record September, the company states. “For the first time we will have a monthly turnover of more than 50 million Euro,” managing director Ernst Prost announced at the Automechanika trade fair in Germany.
A total of 7.2 million readers in Germany have been asked to name the best oil brand, with Auto Bild, Auto Motor und Sport, Auto Zeitung and Motor Klassik all receiving Liqui Moly as the answer. “This clear vote is an award and an obligation at the same time,” says Ernst Prost, CEO of the company.
2017 was a good year for Liqui Moly, as CEO Ernst Prost explains: “Our turnover in 2017 was 532 million euros, an increase of 9 per cent on the 489 million euros achieved in 2016. Our profit before tax is 52 million euros. Also an increase of 9 per cent compared to the previous year. That’s what we need! Just to maintain our equity capital ratio of 80 per cent.”
Liqui Moly is getting a new owner. At the turn of the year the CEO Ernst Prost is selling his company shares to the Würth Group. “I have hereby secured the future of Liqui Moly for a time when I may no longer be at the helm myself,” says Prost. He remains the CEO of the corporate group.
German oil and additive specialist Liqui Moly reported the highest monthly sales in its company history in March: 49.2m euros. “We have achieved an outstanding start to 2017,” says Ernst Prost, managing partner of Liqui Moly.
Liqui Moly