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day 1 | TAIPEI SHOW DAILY 2010
chen nabs North America's ideal job
How did you get back into the game? Chen: After 25 years in business I have a lot of friends and contacts. I talked with Ideal at Eurobike last year. A second meeting was set up at Interbike in Las Vegas and everything was settled.
Michael Chen, co-founder of frame builder Kinesis and the longtime face of Kinesis USA, is Ideal Bike Corporation's new VP of Marketing for North America. Since his appointment last October, Chen has been working for Taiwan’s third-largest bicycle producer from his base in Portland, Oregon. Backed by his knowledge of American and Asian cultures, Chen supports Ideal’s North American OEM customers, including Ideal’s strategic partner, Advanced Sports Inc. (ASI). Ideal owns 17 percent of ASI and manufacturers the bikes for ASI's brands: Breezer, Fuji, Kestrel, and SE Racing. At the end of 2009, ASI added high-end bicycle parts brand Oval Concepts to its stable. TSD: Michael, what happened to the Kinesis factory in the US? Chen: About five years ago we came to realize that in the long term we couldn’t survive with our high-end US OEM production.
Michael Chen: in charge of Ideal’s OE business in North America
The competition from Taiwan was just too tough. But you also acquired the U.S. mountain bike brand Mountain Cycle, apparently to balance your OEM business.
Chen: It’s my job to facilitate communication with all of Ideal’s North American customers. I know the industry- and, after living for so long in America - the cultural differences. I understand both cultures in a lot of ways. I’m acting as a bridge between them, helping out both sides for better and more efficient communication. Where do you see Ideal in comparison with the two Taiwanese market leaders, Giant and Merida? Chen: Since the new management stepped in, Ideal has been a very active company. GM Hermes Chang and his team have brought a new mindset and a much more efficient and quality-driven system to the company.
Chen: Right. But it didn’t work out as expected when we took over Mountain Cycle. That’s why the Kinesis USA factory was closed in mid-2007. What have you done since then? Chen: Basically, I stepped back from the business for two years. I wanted to spend time with my family in Portland.
Can you describe the job you are doing now at Ideal?
english
a bridge between two cultures
6F a4F 1F
M0124
There are huge efforts under way to upgrade production and become a more qualityoriented company. I’m thrilled to join Ideal Bike in these exciting times.
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operation records, history, and more. This offer is limited to 100 reports a day. At the HSBC Lounge, you can also review the Hoover's database, where you can check a target company’s profile, financial results, family tree, industry outlook, management and other important pieces of information.
16/03/2010 15:33:22