Brose Fahrzeugteile

Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG
GmbH & Co. KG (100% family-owned)
Industry Automotive industry
Founded 1908
Headquarters Germany, Coburg
Key people
 Chairman: Michael Stoschek
Management Board: Jürgen Otto, Volker Herdin, Periklis Nassios, Kurt Sauernheimer, Sandro Scharlibbe, Thomas Spangler, Dr. Frank Remy
Products vehicle parts
Revenue 6,053 billion Euro (2015) [1]
Number of employees
 24,000 (2015)[1]
Website brose.com

Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG is an automotive supplier. The family-owned company has its headquarters in Coburg, Germany.

In 2014, the Brose Group developed and produced mechatronic components and systems for vehicle doors, seats and body at 58 locations in 23 countries worldwide.[1] Brose's customers include more than 80 car manufacturers and other automotive suppliers. Some 23,100 employees worldwide worked for the family-owned company in 2014. The Brose Group generated sales of €5.2 billion in fiscal 2014.[1] The company is also the primary sponsor of the Brose Baskets Bamberg.

History

1908–1955

Max Brose opened a trading company for automobile accessories in Berlin on March 4, 1908, while also working as general agent for his father's car body manufacturing company in Wuppertal.

After the First World War, Max Brose and Ernst Jühling, who grew up in Coburg, founded Metallwerk Max Brose & Co. in Coburg on June 14, 1919.[2] Operating as a general partnership, the company manufactured and sold metal goods, tools, devices and materials especially for vehicles and airplanes. For this purpose, they took over the staff, buildings and machines from "Metallwaren Haußknecht & Co." located in the Ketschendorfer Straße.

The company initially used the trade name of "Atlas" for the accessory and supply segment, producing vehicle lights, signaling equipment, fuel and oil canisters, jacks and air pumps. In October 1926, the company patented its crank drive for lowerable windows. After buying the rights to use the patent for the wrap sling brake from the American company Ternstedt, series production of mechanical window regulators started in 1928. Commonly referred to as a window crank apparatus, this device was also manufactured for buses, trains and streetcars. Windshields and ventilation systems expanded the range of products in the years following.

Production switched to the 20-liter standard canister for the German Wehrmacht (armed forces) in 1936 and to contact fuses and impact grenades during World War II. At the time, nearly 900 employees worked for Brose and towards the end of the war some 200 Soviet prisoners of war, who lived next to the plant in a camp run by the German Wehrmacht.

In 1945, the company was placed under trusteeship for three years by the American military government and produced household devices such as ovens and irons with fewer than 100 employees. Production expanded into a new segment beyond automotive accessories with the manufacture of a portable typewriter called "Brosette" in 1953.

1956–1999

After having sold more than 40,000 devices, production was stopped and sold to India in 1958, allowing Max Brose to focus on products for the automotive industry. The window regulator became one of the company's main pillars. In 1963, the company began series production of this product fitted for the first time with an electrical drive. In 1968, Brose ventured into a new key segment – the seat systems business – with the production of seat recliners for adjusting backrests.

The mid-fifties saw numerous changes in management. In 1956, Ernst Jühling died and his heirs withdrew as shareholders. After the death of Max Brose, his eldest daughter Gisela ran the company from 1968 and changed it to a limited partnership (KG). Three years later, Michael Stoschek, grandson of company founder Max Brose, took over at the age of 23. At that time, the company had around 1000 employees and was generating a turnover of DM 55 million. The company's legal form was changed to Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG in 1982.

During the 1974 recession with the first oil crisis, the company was forced to lay off one quarter of its employees and to switch production to water taps and recliners for the furniture industry. Brose Coburg started to expand again over the next few years, investing DM 35 million into its new "Plant 2" in Coburg, which went into full operation in 1983. The company employed then around 1500 people. However, the production of injection molded products for the automotive industry which started in 1981 was stopped again in 1989. In the eighties, numerous products were refined such as the power window regulator with anti-trap protection, the power seat adjuster and the electronic position memory.

In 1988, Brose purchased its first foreign production site in Coventry. In 1990, production started in Hallstadt, the first German plant outside Coburg. Another German plant opened in Gera in 1991, which was transferred to Meerane in 1997 to bring it closer to Volkswagen's plant in Mosel for the just-in-sequence production of door systems. In line with this procurement logistics concept, many other national and international production sites have since been either built or purchased. International expansion has focused mainly on North America and Asia.

2000–2015

In the 21st century, the family-owned company primarily expanded by means of several takeovers. Through the acquisition of closure systems business from Robert Bosch GmbH in 2002, it was possible to venture into a new business segment. 2004 saw the takeover of the window regulator business of Maxion Sistemas in Brazil, followed by the acquisition of a 40 percent stake in the Turkish window regulator manufacturer Pressan A.S. one year later. In April 2008, Brose added electric drives for window regulators, sunroofs and seat belt retractors to its portfolio by purchasing the electric motor business of Continental AG. In setting up the drives business division, the number of employees increased from nearly 10,000 to more than 14,000.[3]

The company has been divided into four business divisions since 2008, i.e. seat systems in Coburg, door systems in Hallstadt, drives in Wurzburg and closure systems in Wuppertal. Jürgen Otto was appointed CEO of the Brose Group in 2005 after Michael Stoschek withdrew from the management board. In 2006, Brose left the Employers’ Associations for the Bavarian Metalworking and Electrical Industries and has since not been bound by a collective bargaining agreement.

Early in 2011, a joint venture was founded with SEW Eurodrive to develop drives for electric mobility.[4]

In 2011, Brose was the fifth-largest family-owned automotive supplier worldwide by turnover. Some 10 percent of the business volume is invested each year into the development of new products and processes with particular focus on products that support the reduction of fuel consumption. Brose plans to increase its global activities in Asia in the future.

Shareholders

The Brose Group's shareholders include Michael Stoschek, his daughter Julia Stoschek and his son Maximilian Stoschek, his elder sister Christine Volkmann and her eldest daughter. Michael Stoschek is Chairman of the Brose Group.[5]

Products

Market position

Global presence

Brose operates the following production sites:[6]

Europe

Coburg, Hallstadt, Würzburg, Wuppertal, Berlin, Bremen, Meerane, Rastatt, Weil im Schönbuch, Gifhorn (all Germany), Ghent (Belgium), La Suze (France), Coventry (Great Britain), Tondela (Portugal), Togliatti (Russian Federation), Gothenburg (Sweden), Bratislava (Slovakia), Sta. Margarida (Spain), Ostrava (Czech Republic), Budapest (Hungary), a holding in Istanbul (Turkey)

North America

Detroit, London, Ontario, New Boston (Michigan), Warren (Michigan), Tuscaloosa (all USA), Puebla (town), Querétaro (federal state), Reynosa (all Mexico)

South America

Curitiba and Salto (both Brazil)

Asia

Beijing, Changchun, Chongqing, Shanghai and Wuhan (all China); Pune (India); Daegu, Suwon (all Korea); joint ventures in Shanghai (China), Pune (India); Incheon, Suwon (all Korea); Rayong (Thailand).

Africa

A holding in Brits (South Africa)

A joint venture in East London, South Africa to supply Mercedes Benz.

In addition, Brose is represented with engineering and sales locations in Ingolstadt, Sindelfingen, Rüsselsheim, Wolfsburg (all Germany), Voisins-le-Bretonneux (France), Nagoya (Japan), Moscow (Russian Federation), Suwon (South Korea), and New Delhi (India).

Awards

2013

2012

2011

2009

2008

2007

Awards for Human Resources Activities

2014

2013

2012

2008

2007

2006

2005

Further reading

Gregor Schöllgen: Brose: a German family company 1908-2008. ECON, Berlin 2008. ISBN 3430200571, 9783430200578

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "brose.com". Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  2. ↑ "digitale-sammlungen.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  3. ↑ "uk.reuters.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  4. ↑ "brose.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  5. ↑ "shareholders-brose.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  6. ↑ "locations-brose.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  7. ↑ "pwc.de". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  8. ↑ "autonews.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  9. ↑ "elektroniknet.de". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  10. ↑ "automobil-produktion.de". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  11. ↑ "awards-brose.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  12. ↑ "bavarian-quality-prize.de". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  13. ↑ "agamus.de". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  14. ↑ "automotive-supplier-industry.de". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  15. ↑ "employerbrandingtoday.com". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  16. ↑ "top-employers.de". Retrieved 2014-04-08.
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