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Frauscher Marketing
06 Jul 2026 | 7 min read
So far in 2026, Frauscher US has seen many changes, including the recent promotion of Hannes Kalteis to Head of Sales and Managing Director of Frauscher North America. We sat down with Hannes not long ago to discuss these changes, including his new role, Frauscher's acquisition by Wabtec, and Railway Interchange 2026, which took place 2–4 June in Omaha.
Introduction Hannes Kalteis, Head of Sales and Managing Director of Frauscher North America
I joined Frauscher in Austria as a full-time employee in 2014 after completing an internship there. During the internship I knew I wanted to work for this company. I began in Product Management, mainly responsible for our wheel sensor portfolio. Early on I had the opportunity to work on projects that were very relevant for the North American market, specifically the development of the Wheel Sensor RSR110 and continued improvement of the Wheel Sensor RSR180.
I moved to the US in 2019 for personal reasons and was given the opportunity to transition to Frauscher US. Over time I was entrusted with expanding responsibilities, first leading the engineering team and eventually taking on the Sales, BD and Operations lead functions as well.
My experience at Frauscher so far puts me in a position to understand the advantages of our technology and services, but more importantly the ability to tie that together with our customers’ needs and expectations. Serving our customers well is what it’s ultimately all about, and my years of experience here have put me in a position to lead my team to continue providing top-notch customer service.
Wabtec acquisition and its opportunities for Frauscher North America
Frauscher becoming part of the Wabtec family undoubtedly presents a huge opportunity for us, especially in North America. While many in the industry today know Frauscher, everyone knows Wabtec. Being a part of this larger whole allows us to provide our customers with the white-glove service they have come to expect from Frauscher, while also gaining access to a much larger portfolio of products and services through the Wabtec group. Through various discussions that have taken place, we are seeing many potential areas where coordinating future efforts with our Wabtec colleagues can pay dividends in terms of broadening our full product and service offering. Wabtec has a high level of knowledge and experience related to the market and regulatory environment, and a large portfolio of projects that we are now able to draw from in addition to our own.
Recap Railway Interchange
Railway interchange was a huge success. Being the largest rail-centred event in North America, it has always been our most important trade show and this year was no different. What was new is that we showcased our products – under the Frauscher brand – on the Wabtec stand for the first time. For us, this was the perfect opportunity to interact with our customers as well as our new colleagues. Frauscher was positioned prominently on the stand, which further reinforced the message to our customers that we are the same reliable partner they have come to trust, with the added advantage of also being backed by Wabtec.
Sharing a stand with Wabtec for the first time—rather than hosting our own as we had since 2015—brought some unknowns and initial concern, especially around stand location and customer visibility. Those concerns proved unfounded, though, as strong collaboration and high stand traffic led to a successful exhibition full of meaningful conversations and meetings.
Of course, they were curious - we heard the question "How are things going with Wabtec?" asked many times. From the time the sale of Frauscher to Wabtec was announced last summer, we have assured our customers that their day-to-day dealings with us would not change. Our customers have become accustomed to the quality of our products, attentive and efficient support, and responsive customer service. I believe that during Railway Interchange we were able to emphasise the fact that Wabtec also views these characteristics to be important, and that they were an important factor in wanting to acquire Frauscher. All in all, customer reaction was overwhelmingly positive!
The biggest takeaway for me and my team was that over the past decade Frauscher has become a well-known and respected brand in train detection, and that we must continue to move forward to achieve sustained growth. When customers visited the stand and saw that the Frauscher they had come to depend on was still there, and the only change was that it now had the benefit of being a part of something bigger – our goal for Railway Interchange was met. We will continue to stress this to the marketplace, highlighting the fact that we are the same but better with the added capabilities of the Wabtec group. This will allow us to better serve our existing and future customers.
Closing Thoughts
As I take on my new role at Frauscher US, I’m excited and optimistic about the future. We have grown and prospered over the past decade on our own, but the opportunity for continued and exponential growth has presented itself since we’ve become a Wabtec company. My team and I can’t wait to see what the future holds and look forward to the next decade of growth and success!
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Curious about what's next for Frauscher US?
Reach out to our team — we're always happy to talk through your needs and show you what our expanded capabilities can do for you.
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Curious about what's next for Frauscher US?
Reach out to our team — we're always happy to talk through your needs and show you what our expanded capabilities can do for you.
