Kässbohrer All-Terrain Vehicles

Think your sport-utility vehicle is impressive? How about pitting your road beast against a monster that can roar up a steep Alpine slope pushing a load of snow, then zip back down and repeat the circuit dozens of times -- all in the middle of a blizzard? Of course, at about $365,000, the top-of-the-line PistenBully 300 Polar makes even a Humvee look cheap. In the niche market for vehicles used to groom ski trails, which in a good year amounts to 1,000 units worldwide, Germany's Kässbohrer All-Terrain Vehicles dominates. It has more than half the global market, besting rival Bombardier Recreational Products (BBD ) everywhere except North America.

Based in the southern German town of Laupheim, Kässbohrer attributes its No. 1 status to a reputation for quality and superior customer service. With offices in all the major ski regions, the company guarantees customers that it will dispatch spare parts or a repair person within 24 hours. "It's important for the customer to know that when it snows, [the machines] work," says CFO Rolf Glessing, who, with CEO Gebhard Schwarz, 46, constitutes the company's board.