| Type | Close corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Attached trailers |
| Founded | 1892 |
| Headquarters | Horstmar, Germany |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Josef Bodenkotte Oliver Jung Bernd Hoffmann Thomas Naber Ulrich Schöpker Ulrich Schümer |
| Products | Container chassis, tippers, box vehicles, platform vehicles |
| Revenue | 2,114 billion € |
| Employees | Around 4,000 |
| Website | Homepage (englisch) |
Schmitz Cargobull is a German company which is considered Europe’s leading trailer manufacturer. [1] [2]
Schmitz Cargobull is based in North Rhine-Westphalia. The main production facilities are in Altenberge while the administration is in Horstmar:
The company was founded as a blacksmith's shop in 1892. [3] It was in 1935 that the company entered the market for semitrailers and semitrailer containers. In 1991 Schmitz Cargobull acquired the Harelaw plant in the United Kingdom. The UK Operation was then scaled back, and the plant ceased to operate in 2010 with the Durham base planned for closure in 2011
In 2009 the company was hit hard by the recession, with a trade union called it "a huge catastrophe for all concerned people and the whole region", [4] while the suppliers, who had so far thrived along with Schmitz Cargobull, said: "The slump was then as if you broke off the legs of a galloping horse." [5]
Schmitz Cargobull kept its share of the market and could tell that the slump in the takings was not exactly as severe as the slump in orders. [6]
In 2010 the company still had to cut stuff because of the lasting recession. [7]
The management kept believing in a rebound and invested substantially in an update of Schmitz Cargobull's equipment. [8]
The company also continuously put effort in the developement and enhancement of its products although its share of the market had not been endangered since the crisis was a general one. Consequently Schmitz could present improvements that would pay for the customers, such as an optimised axle which enabled freight forwarding companies to transport heavier loads. [9]
Toward the end of 2010 [10] and especially in 2011 Schmitz Cargobull's success story made new headlines. [11] [12] [13]
Also in 2011 it was published that Schmitz Cargobull had struck a deal with Dongfeng in China. [14] [15] [16] [17]
Schmitz Cargobull also signed a contract for a cooperation with Scania in regards to mutual business in Australia. [18]