Parkway Car Stereo

Harman has been putting a lot of focus on home and portable audio and is now investing in the car stereo aftermarket, said new Senior Sales Manager for the Mobile Aftermarket, Glenn Ihrke (formerly with Alpine).
“Harman has identified the aftermarket as a potential growth area for the company…not necessarily a growth category, but a growth area for the company.  But in the last several years we haven’t had the programs or products for the aftermarket,” he said.

Harman's Glenn Ihrke

The company is already making changes to court the specialist as it believes it can triple its market share in car audio through the specialty channel.
It has implemented new programs such as adjusting freight requirements so they are more easily met by smaller shops.  The product lines will also be more profitable, Ihrke said.
Next month, the company will ship a new JBL GTO speaker line to match the amps shipped earlier in the year.  Ihrke says it uses “high tech” materials but maintains a reasonable price range from about $120 to $200.  Also a new Infinity Kappa line is due this summer.  Next year, the company will focus on filling out the MS line of add-on electronics for the car.
Harman said it will beef up its presence at the MERA KnowledgeFest this summer with a larger booth and it will run two training seminars.