| Type | Aktiengesellschaft |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founded | Nuremberg, Germany (1945) |
| Founder(s) | Max Grundig |
| Headquarters | Nuremberg, Germany |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Televisions, Radios, Shelf stereos, MP3 players |
| Parent | Koç Holding |
| Website | www.grundig.de |
Grundig AG is a German manufacturer of consumer electronics for home entertainment which transferred to Turkish control in 2004-2007. Established in 1945 in Nuremberg by Max Grundig, the company changed hands several times before becoming part of the Turkish Koç Holding group. In 2007, after buying control of the Grundig brand, Koc renamed its Beko Elektronik white goods and consumer electronics division Grundig Elektronik A.Ş.,[1] which has decided to merge with Arçelik A.Ş. as declared on February 27, 2009.[2]
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The company began in 1930 with the establishment of a store named Fuerth, Grundig & Wurzer (RVF), which sold radios. After WWII Max Grundig recognized the need for radios in Germany, and in 1947 produced a kit, while a factory and administration centre were built at Fürth. In 1951 the first televisions were manufactured at the new facility. At the time Grundig was the largest radio manufacturer in Europe. Divisions in Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe were established.
A plant was opened in 1960 to manufacture tape recorders in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the first production by Grundig outside Germany. The managing director of the plant Thomas Niedermayer, was kidnapped and later killed by the Provisional IRA in December 1973.[3] The factory was closed with the loss of around 1000 jobs in 1980.[4]
In 1972, Grundig GmbH became Grundig AG. After this Philips began to gradually accumulate shares in the company over the years, and assumed complete economic control in 1993. Philips sold Grundig to a Bavarian consortium in 1998 due to unsatisfactory performance.
At the end of June 2000 the company relocated its headquarters in Fürth and Nuremberg. Grundig lost €1.281 million the following year. In autumn 2002, Grundig's banks did not extend the company's lines of credit, leaving the company with an April 2003 deadline to announce insolvency. Grundig AG declared bankruptcy in 2003, selling its satellite equipment division to Thomson. In 2004 Britain's Alba plc and the Turkish Koc's Beko jointly took over Grundig Home InterMedia System, Grundig's consumer electronics division. In 2007 Alba sold its half of the business to Beko for US$50.3 million,[5] although it retained the licence to use the Grundig brand in the UK until 2010, and in Australasia until 2012.[6]
In the United States, products marketed under the Grundig brand are manufactured by the Eton Corporation (formerly Lextronix), based in Palo Alto, California. Spain's Grupo Vitelcom is licensed to manufacture mobile telephones using the Grundig Mobile brand, and auto parts company Delphi manufactures car radios branded Grundig.
In 2007 Grundig Mobile announced the U900 Linux-based cell phone.[7]