PIONEER
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Initially, Pioneer's products were distributed in Europe through a network of independent distributors. With the foundation in 1970 of Pioneer Europe NV, based in Belgium, the company began to expand its European presence.
Driven by the growth of the audio-visual market and its strategy of operating near the customers it serves, the company set up its first distribution subsidiaries in 1978, in Germany, United Kingdom and Denmark. This trend continued throughout the next decade with distribution subsidiaries added in Italy (1980), in both The Netherlands and Belgium (1981), in Spain (1986), in Norway (1990) as well as in France (1993). In 1994, a representative office in Moscow for the Russian market opened. In 1997 the Belgian and Dutch subsidiary merged together to become a Benelux operation. Sweden and Portugal both became Pioneer subsidiary companies early 1999. Finally, in 2005 Pioneer opened a sales subsidiary in Finland.
In the countries not mentioned here Pioneer products are distributed by independent distributors.