Katerini-Based Firm Innovates with Hand-Crafted Replicas of Luxury Cars

Overcoming bureaucracy and a harsh economy, a firm based in northern Greece has innovated and thrived by carving out its own unique niche in the automotive market.
Replicar Hellas, based in the northern Greek city of Katerini, produces hand-crafted, exact replicas of famous luxury cars.
Elias Garganelis, a Greek who used to live in Germany, made the decision to return to his homeland and to develop a business like no other. Garganelis’ aim was to harness his years of automotive experience in order to accomplish something that no one had previously managed to achieve: the production of exact replicas of two of the most famous and expensive car models in the world.
Having established the firm in 2007, Garganelis and his team had to overcome dozens of bureaucratic obstacles. Despite these challenges however, their experiment was a success. Today, Replica Hellas can boast that its replica cars are sold all over Europe.
Furthermore, Garganelis’ firm employs many in Greece’s northern region of Macedonia, and provides business to other firms in the region. Specifically, the body of each replica is built by a local business in the city of Naousa, while the replicas are painted by a firm based in the city of Kozani.
The quality of their work and the reliability of their products, with careful attention to detail, have consistently been among the company’s ingredients of success.
This success has come despite the fact that the replica cars are quite expensive for the average household. Replicar’s least expensive replica comes at a minimum price of €45,000 ($52,000), an amount though, that is representative the quality and reliability of their work.
Despite Greece’s harsh economic times, Garganelis and his team prove that with hard work, passion, and a creative idea, difficulties can be overcome and business success may follow.