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MAN SE (abbreviation of ''Maschinenfabrik
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
-
Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
'', ) was a manufacturing and engineering company based in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Germany. Its primary output was commercial vehicles and diesel engines through its
MAN Truck & Bus MAN Truck & Bus SE (formerly MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, ) is a subsidiary of Traton, and one of the leading international providers of commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, MAN Truck & Bus produces vans in the range from 3.0 to 5.5 t ...
and MAN Latin America divisions, and participation in the manufacturer Sinotruk. MAN SE was majority-owned by
Traton Traton SE, known as the Traton Group (formerly Volkswagen Truck & Bus AG), is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and one of the world's largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, with its MAN, Scania, Navistar, and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônib ...
, the heavy commercial vehicle subsidiary of automaker
Volkswagen AG Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...
, until August 2021 when Traton completed a squeeze out of all remaining shareholders and formally merged MAN SE into Traton SE, meaning the former subsidiaries of MAN SE were now directly owned by Traton, and MAN SE ceased to exist.


History


Foundation

MAN traces its origins back to 1758, when the "St. Antony" ironworks commenced operation in
Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...
, as the first heavy-industry enterprise in the
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
region. In 1808, the three ironworks "St. Antony", "Gute Hoffnung" (English: "Good Hope"), and "Neue Essen" (English: "New Forges") merged, to form the Hüttengewerkschaft und Handlung Jacobi (English: "Jacobi Iron And Steel Works Union And Trading Company"), Oberhausen, which was later renamed Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH). In 1840, German engineer Ludwig Sander founded in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
the first predecessor enterprise of MAN in Southern Germany: the "Sander'sche Maschinenfabrik". It firstly became the "C. Reichenbach'sche Maschinenfabrik", which was named after the pioneer of printing machines Carl August Reichenbach, and later on the "Maschinenfabrik Augsburg". The branch ''Süddeutsche Brückenbau A.G.'' (MAN-Werk Gustavsburg) was founded when the company in 1859 was awarded the contract for the construction of the railway bridge over the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
at
Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
. In 1898, the companies ''Maschinenbau-AG
Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
'' (founded 1841) and ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg AG'' (founded 1840) merged to form ''Vereinigte Maschinenfabrik Augsburg und Maschinenbaugesellschaft Nürnberg A.G., Augsburg'' ("United Machine Works Augsburg and Nuremberg Ltd."). In 1908, the company was renamed ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg Nürnberg AG'', or in short, M·A·N. While the focus initially remained on ore mining and iron production in the
Ruhr region The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
, mechanical engineering became the dominating branch of business in Augsburg and Nuremberg. Under the direction of Heinrich von Buz, ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg'' grew from a medium-sized business of 400 employees into a major enterprise with a workforce of 12,000 by 1913. Locomotion, propulsion, and steel building were the big components of this phase. The early predecessors of MAN were responsible for numerous technological innovations. The success of the early MAN entrepreneurs and engineers such as Heinrich Gerber, was based on a great openness towards new technologies. They constructed the Wuppertal monorail ("
Wuppertaler Schwebebahn The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ("Wuppertal Suspension Railway") is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany. Its original name was ("Eugen Langen Monorail Overhead Conveyor System"). It is the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars ...
") and the first spectacular steel bridges such as the Großhesseloher Brücke in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
in 1857 and the Müngsten railway bridge between 1893 and 1897. The invention of the rotary printing press allowed the copious printing of books and newspapers, and since 1893,
Rudolf Diesel Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (, ; 18 March 1858 – 29 September 1913) was a German inventor and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer who is famous for having invented the diesel engine, which burns diesel fuel; both are named after him. ...
puzzled for four years with future MAN engineers in a laboratory in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
until his first
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
was completed and fully functional. During 1921, the majority of MAN was taken over by the Gutehoffnungshütte Actienverein für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb, Sterkrade (GHH), (founded 1873). Through well-directed equities and acquisitions of processing industries, e.g., Deutsche Werft (1918), Ferrostaal (1921), Deggendorfer Werft und Eisenbau (1924), MAN advanced to a nationwide operating enterprise, with a workforce of 52,000 by 1921. MAN also produced tractors by the name MAN Ackerdiesel (1938-1962). The decision for tractor production was made due to increasing demand from eastern Germany.


Crisis and World War II

At the same time, the GHH's economic situation worsened. The causes for this were, among others, the
reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...
after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the occupation of the Ruhr region and the world economic crisis. In only two years, the number of MAN employees sank from 14,000 in 1929/30 to 7,400 in 1931/32. While the civil business was largely collapsing, the military business increased with the armament under the
National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
regime. GHH/MAN enterprises supplied finished tanks, diesel engines for submarines, and cylinders for projectiles and artillery of every description. Although MAN produced experimental diesel engines for tanks (
Panzers Nazi Germany developed numerous tank designs used in World War II. In addition to domestic designs, Germany also used various captured and foreign-built tanks. German tanks were an important part of the Wehrmacht and played a fundamental role du ...
),
Maybach Maybach (, ) is a Automotive industry in Germany, German luxury car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Lufts ...
enjoyed a ''de facto'' monopoly on the design and manufacture of all tank and half-track engines, which were water-cooled,
four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
motors. No diesel engines by any other manufacturer were installed in production
armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured car ...
s during the war. MAN also produced gun parts, including Mauser
Karabiner 98k The Karabiner 98 kurz (; "carbine 98 short"), often abbreviated Karabiner 98k, Kar98k or K98k and also sometimes incorrectly referred to as a K98 (a K98 is a Polish carbine and copy of the Kar98a), is a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92×5 ...
rifle bolts. MAN's
Waffenamt ''Waffenamt'' (WaA) was the German Army Weapons Agency. It was the centre for research and development of the Weimar Republic and later the Third Reich for weapons, ammunition and army equipment to the German Reichswehr and then Wehrmacht ...
code was WaA53, and ordnance code was "coc". The MAN works in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
, which produced diesel engines for
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s, and the MAN works in
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, which built 40% of Germany's
Panther tank The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to ...
s, were often the target of massive Allied bombing attacks during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Postwar period

After the end of World War II, the allies split up the GHH group. A vertical integration, in which mining, iron, and steel production are consolidated, was not allowed anymore. The "Gutehoffnungshütte", together with the MAN firms of Southern Germany, therefore concentrated on engineering, plant construction, commercial vehicles, and printing machines. This process has been supported by strategic acquisitions and dispositions; one of the most important was the take-over of the truck and bus division of the commercial vehicles manufacturer
Büssing Büssing AG was a German bus and truck manufacturer, established in 1903 by Heinrich Büssing (1843–1929) in Braunschweig. It quickly evolved to one of the largest European producers, whose utility vehicles with the Brunswick Lion emblem were w ...
(1971), the disposition of the shares of the shipyard Deutsche Werft (1966/67), and the acquisition of the printing machine producer Faber&Schleicher, as well as its fusion to MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG (1979). In 1980, MAN took control of
Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it g ...
, the Danish company that had been a world leader in design and construction of large diesel engines for large ships. In 1982/83, the "Gutehoffnungshütte" plunged into a deep corporate crisis. The enterprise suffered from the late effects of the second oil crisis and a bad economic situation. This was particularly displayed by the dramatic downturn of the commercial vehicle sales figures. Besides external factors, the chief course of these problems was the obsolete company structure with extensive cross-subsidisation between the divisions. At this time, the former director of GHH presented a reclamation concept that envisioned a complete consolidation of the subsidiary with the holding company. This concept encountered great resistance with GHH's major shareholders Allianz AG and Commerzbank. The media speculated about a "Bavarian conspiracy" against the management in Oberhausen. In 1986, with Klaus Götte, the group got a new company structure and became a contractual group with an economically independent division at several locations. This was also attended by the transferring of the MAN headquarters from Oberhausen to Munich, and by the new company name, MAN AG. Rudolf Rupprecht repelled a takeover attempt in 2003. Furthermore, the disposition of the 50% share of the SMS Group and the strengthening of the turbomachinery division through the takeover of Sulzer Turbo induced MAN's focusing process. In 2006, MAN entered into an agreement with Indian company
Force Motors Force Motors Ltd, is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, based in Pune, India and the flagship company of the Dr. Abhay Firodia Group. From 1958 until 2005, the company was known as Bajaj Tempo Motors because it originat ...
to establish a 50:50 joint venture for the production of trucks and buses in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
for the domestic and export markets. The joint venture established a truck manufacturing plant in
Pithampur Pithampur is a town near Dhar city in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Pithampur is an industrial city, and is a part of Indore Metropolitan Region. Pithampur houses major industries and companies of Madhya Pradesh. Demographics ...
,
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
, and launched its first truck for the Indian market in 2007. At the end of 2011, MAN bought out the stake of its Indian partner, and its operations in India became a wholly owned subsidiary of MAN in early 2012. MAN ended production and sales in India and sold the Pithampur plant back to Force Motors in 2018. In September 2006, MAN produced an offer for the take-over of the Swedish competitor
Scania AB Scania AB is a major Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for heavy vehicles as well as marine and general ind ...
. The European Commission approved the takeover on 14 December. Nevertheless, MAN voluntarily withdrew the offer on 23 January 2007, after Scania's major shareholders
Volkswagen AG Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...
and the influential Wallenberg family had declined the offer. On 24 December 2008, MAN published to possess further stock options of Scania and to therefore maintain more than 20% of the voting rights. As of October 2019, MAN SE still owns 17.37% of the voting rights in Scania, with the remainder of Scania being directly owned by Volkswagen Group's heavy commercial vehicle subsidiary, Traton SE. In 2008, the MAN group celebrated its 250th anniversary with numerous events, such as exhibitions in several museums, a vintage car tour with the motto "MAN on the road again", and a great anniversary gala. At the beginning of December 2008, MAN took over
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
's Brazilian truck and bus operation, Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, putting the division under the control of MAN Latin America. Therewith, MAN now is a market leader in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, with a market share of 30%. Since May 2009, the group is incorporated as European corporation MAN SE. In July 2009, MAN published to merge the two divisions, MAN Turbo and MAN Diesel, into one business area called Power Engineering. In addition, the group contracted a strategic partnership with Chinese truck manufacturer Sinotruk, purchasing 25% + 1 share of the company. In the course of this focusing process, many smaller subsidiaries and divisions have been sold. In 2009, investigators of the Munich Prosecutor's Office uncovered a corruption affair, in which MAN had been bribing business partners and governments in over 20 countries from 2001 to 2007, to get large orders for buses and trucks. MAN CEO Håkan Samuelsson and other board members had to resign. The board of directors appointed Dr.-Ing. Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, the former CEO of MAN Diesel, as successor. On 17 December 2009, Pachta-Reyhofen was assigned as speaker of the board and CEO of MAN SE by the board of directors.


Takeover by Volkswagen

In July 2011, Volkswagen AG acquired a 55.9% voting stake and 53.7% of the share capital in MAN SE. Pending regulatory approval, Volkswagen planned to merge MAN and Scania AB to create Europe's largest truck maker. The combined trucks group is planned to save about 400 million euros per year, mainly by bundling procurement. Regulatory approval was granted, and the takeover was completed in November 2011. In April 2012, MAN SE announced that Volkswagen had increased its interest to a 73.0% voting stake and 71.08% of the share capital. On 6 June 2012, Volkswagen AG announced that it had increased its share of voting rights in MAN SE to 75.03%, paving the way for a domination agreement to be put in place. From January 2019, MAN's Power Engineering division, made up of
MAN Energy Solutions MAN Energy Solutions SE is a German multinational company based in Augsburg that produces large-bore gas and diesel engines and also turbomachinery for marine, rail and stationary applications, as locomotive and marine propulsion systems, power p ...
(formerly MAN Diesel and Turbo) and MAN SE's 76% stake in RENK AG were sold to the Volkswagen Group, leaving MAN SE as the holding company for commercial vehicle units,
MAN Truck & Bus MAN Truck & Bus SE (formerly MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, ) is a subsidiary of Traton, and one of the leading international providers of commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, MAN Truck & Bus produces vans in the range from 3.0 to 5.5 t ...
, and MAN Latin America, under the responsibility of Volkswagen's subsidiary, Traton SE. In March 2019, MAN SE announced that 94.36% of its shares were held by Traton. In February 2020, Traton announced that it intends to merge MAN SE with Traton to simplify the latter's overall structure. As a result of the merger, MAN Truck & Bus, Scania AB, and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus will become wholly owned, direct subsidiaries of Traton. In September 2020, the company announced that it will be cutting over 9,500 job positions at its MAN Truck & Bus division, as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
economic effects. The company made the move to generate €1.8 billion of cost savings by 2023.


Legal issues

In 2011, a former manager in the company was charged with bribery of Turkmen state officials in exchange for project contracts in 2002. The trial began in Munich in 2019 after a delay of the initial trial set for 2016. The MAN manager was suspected in giving 8.4 million euros in bribes in 2002–2007 to the head of the state-owned Turkmennebit company, Saparmammet Veliev.


See also

* ERF *
Gräf & Stift Gräf & Stift was an Austrian manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, from 1902 until 2001, latterly as a subsidiary of MAN. It was founded in 1902 by the brothers Franz, Heinrich and Karl Gräf, and the investor, Wilhelm ...
*
ÖAF ÖAF is an initialism for Österreichische Automobil-Fabrik (literally ''Austrian automobile factory''), previously known as Österreichische Austro-Fiat, an Austrian (Austro-Hungarian) car and truck manufacturer that now is completely incorporat ...
*
Voith The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Hei ...
*
ZF Friedrichshafen ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally ''Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen'', and commonly abbreviated to ZF (ZF = "Zahnradfabrik" = "Cogwheel Factory"), is a German car parts maker headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south- ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Se 2021 disestablishments in Germany Companies formerly listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Defence companies of Germany Diesel engine manufacturers Emergency services equipment makers German brands German companies established in 1758 Manufacturing companies established in 1758 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2021 Military vehicle manufacturers Steam turbine manufacturers Traton Truck manufacturers of Germany