Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, also known as Schaeffler Group (''Schaeffler-Gruppe'' in German), is a German manufacturer of rolling element bearings for automotive,

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and ast ...

and industrial uses. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Dr. Wilhelm and Dr.-Ing. E. h. Georg Schaeffler. In August 2008, the firm agreed to a staggered €12 billion acquisition of larger rival

Continental AG Continental AG, commonly known as Continental or colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company specializing in tires, brake systems, interior electronics, automotive safety, powertrain and chassis ...

, whereby Schaeffler would defer taking a majority stake until at least 2012. However, in 2011 Schaeffler sold off €1.8 billion worth of shares of Continental, reducing its stake from 75.1% to 60.3%. Currently, the company owns 46% of Continental shares. Schaeffler Group also owns the brands INA, FAG and LuK. In Germany, the main brands of the Schaeffler Group – INA, FAG and LuK – are marketed by Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG and LuK GmbH & Co. oHG. Schaeffler has an Indian subsidiary
Schaeffler India
which is publicly listed on the

National Stock Exchange of India National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is the leading stock exchange under the ownership of various group of domestic and global financial institutions, public and privately owned entities and individuals. It is located in Mumbai, Ma ...

and the

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange. It is located on Dalal Street in Mumbai. Established in 1875 by cotton merchant Premchand Roychand, a Jain businessman, it is the oldest stock exchange i ...

History

*1883:

Friedrich Fischer Friedrich Fischer (March 19, 1849 – October 2, 1899) from Schweinfurt, Germany is considered the father of the modern ball bearing, having invented the process for milling standard bearings in 1883. Biography Fischer designed the ball grindi ...

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban ag ...

designs a machine to allow steel balls to be ground to an absolutely round state for the first time – and in large volumes. *1905: On 29 July, the FAG brand is registered with the patent office in Berlin. The registered trademark FAG is an acronym for "Fischer's Automatische Gussstahlkugelfabrik," or "Fischer's Automatic Steel Ball Factory." *1939: Acquisition of Davistan AG, a Jewish founded textiles company. *1946: Brothers Wilhelm and Georg Schaeffler, both holders of Ph.D. degrees, found INA in Herzogenaurach. *1949: The needle roller cage, developed by Georg Schaeffler, makes the needle roller bearing a reliable component for industrial applications. *1965: LuK Lamellen und Kupplungsbau GmbH is founded in Bühl (with INA as one of the investors). *1999: INA takes over LuK GmbH. *2002: Acquisition of FAG Kugelfischer AG, Schweinfurt. *2003: INA, FAG and LuK form the Schaeffler Group. *2008: Schaeffler Group buys the much larger

(Germany). *2009: President and CEO of the Schaeffler Group, Dr. Jürgen M. Geissinger, was elected president of the World Bearing Association. *2011: Schaeffler Group becomes Schaeffler AG and Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG *2013: On 4 October, an employee letter said "... Mr. Klaus Rosenfeld will take over as acting CEO in addition to his current responsibilities as Chief Financial Officer". *2013: The third generation of Schaeffler's electric axle, presented in Schaeffler's ACTIVeDRIVE, becomes a pilot production product. *2014: Schaeffler opens its first Russian plant in

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (born ...

, from which it supplies products to both domestic and overseas automobile manufacturers as well as to the railway industry. *2015: Schaeffler successfully completes its initial public offering on 9 October 2015, under the motto "We share our success". *2016: The strategy "Mobility for tomorrow" is adopted. U.S. and China plants are expanded and a new facility is opened in

Chonburi Chonburi ( th, ชลบุรี, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and Mueang Chonburi District in Thailand. It is about 100 km southeast of Bangkok, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Its name means 'city of water'. Cho ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, along with a new office in

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million r ...

. *2018: Schaeffler fitted four electric motors from the ABT Schaeffler FE01 Formula E car to an Audi A3 for testing only.

World War II

During the 2008 merger, the company revealed that in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it had exploited thousands of slave labourers in its plants in

German-occupied Poland German-occupied Poland during World War II consisted of two major parts with different types of administration. The Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II—nearly a quarter of the ...

. Around this time the director of the museum now standing at the site of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...

claimed that after the war of human hair had been found at Schaeffler factories, and had been used in upholstery in its automotive products. The historian at Schaeffler denied this particular allegation.

References

{{Authority control Industrial machine manufacturers Manufacturing companies of Germany Companies based in Herzogenaurach Manufacturing companies　established in 1883 Bearing manufacturers Companies involved in the Holocaust Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange 2015 initial public offerings German brands German companies established in 1883

History

World War II

See also

References