Fuchs Petrolub SE is a German multinational manufacturer of

lubricant A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...

s, and related speciality products. The company's headquarters are at

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, Germany, where the company was founded in 1931. Fuchs is a public company listed on the

Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Locat ...

. As of 2008, it is a constituent of the

MDAX The MDAX is a stock index which lists German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The index is calculated by Deutsche Börse. Until 2021 included the 60 Prime Standard shares from sectors that rank immediately below (in value of mar ...

trading index of German mid-cap companies.

Fuchs products

Fuchs produces a wide range of products, which include automotive lubricants (engine

motor oil Motor oil, engine oil, or engine lubricant is any one of various substances used for the lubrication of internal combustion engines. They typically consist of base oils enhanced with various additives, particularly antiwear additives, deterg ...

s and

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

, for motor cars, motorcycles, agricultural, plant and stationary engines), metalworking lubricants, industrial, civil engineering, and hydraulic products. Fuchs also produces the Planto range of

biodegradable Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...

products.

Automotive products

* Fuchs Titan is a range of products aimed at motor cars,

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

s, buses, agricultural and plant equipment. * Fuchs Silkolene is a product range specifically for

motorcycles A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising, ...

. * Fuchs Maintain Fricofin is a range of automotive coolants.

Industrial products

* Fuchs Renolin are a range of hydraulic and industrial gearbox lubricants.

Civil Engineering products

* Fuchs Renocast are a range of mould release agents, used when casting concrete.

Mechanical Engineering products

* Fuchs Ecocut and Ecocool are fluids for

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

, specifically cutting and general machining. * Fuchs Renoform and Trenoil are used for forming metals, be that die drawing, rolling or pressing, in both hot and cold processes. * Fuchs Thermisol are a range of

quenching In materials science, quenching is the rapid cooling of a workpiece in water, oil, polymer, air, or other fluids to obtain certain material properties. A type of heat treating, quenching prevents undesired low-temperature processes, such as pha ...

oils, used for

heat treatment Heat treating (or heat treatment) is a group of industrial, thermal and metalworking processes used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is metallurgical. Heat treatments are also ...

processes, including annealing and tempering.

General application products

* Fuchs Renolit are a range of greases used across their entire portfolio, including aviation and food processing. * The Fuchs Anticorit range are non-toxic protectives for

anti-corrosion In chemistry, a corrosion inhibitor or anti-corrosive is a chemical compound that, when added to a liquid or gas, decreases the corrosion rate of a material, typically a metal or an alloy, that comes into contact with the fluid. The effectiveness ...

, across a wide variety of applications, and are particularly suited to packaging, storage and transportation

Fuchs Lubritech

Fuchs Lubritech is a division that specializes in specialty lubricants, coatings and services for all industrial applications, especially mining, and other types of processing and

The "Silkolene" brand name

The Silkolene brand name has a long history, with the company originating in England. Initially, it was called Dalton and Company, being named after its founder, and sold Silkolene products. However, recognising the strength of the Silkolene brand, in the early 1980s, the company was renamed Silkolene Lubricants. In 1989, Silkolene Lubricants was acquired by the German Fuchs group, and the products were subsequently renamed Fuchs Silkolene. The products themselves gained a high international regard. The Silkolene company developed specialist lubricants for aviation, including oils for the

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

engine, as used in the

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

and Lancaster, to name a few. Silkolene dedicated many years on technical cooperation with the US Air Force, and was also involved with the

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

passenger aircraft,

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

. The company amassed expertise with

synthetic lubricant Synthetic things are composed of multiple parts, often with the implication that they are artificial. In particular, 'synthetic' may refer to: Science * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic o ...

technology, and Silkolene became a recognised world leader in the field of synthetic lubricants, including

esters In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides are ...

. Synthetic lubricant technology continued, and in the early 1990s, developments continued to include Aerospace engineering, along with motorsports, including rallying and motorcycle racing. An early partnership was with Honda UK Motorcycle Race Team. With positive market exposure, coupled with a very high degree of research and development (R&D), and success in competition, Silkolene products became the market leader in the UK. Presently, Silkolene products continue to be manufactured at Hanley,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, in England. They are now also made in Germany, the US, and South East Asia. Fuchs purchased the British Batoyle Freedom Group company of Norfolk in 2014.

Fuchs in motorsports

Fuchs, like many of their competitor brands of lubricants, have a strong worldwide presence in motorsports, particularly in Europe and the USA. In the 2-wheel automotive segment, the Fuchs Silkolene brand sponsors many different classes of motorcycle racing, including prototype based racing:

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

, and production based

SuperBike A sport bike (sports motorcycle, or sports bike) is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

and

SuperSports Supersports is an Australian motor racing class designed as a relatively cheap class of sports racing car. While looking like international sports cars the vehicles themselves are smaller and lighter. Engines are liquid-cooled, four stroke, natural ...

racing:

World SuperBikes Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

, World SuperSports, British SuperBikes. The brand has also been involved with

Motorcross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

, speedway and

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

(sponsoring Hudson Motorsport and Freddie Housley). Fuchs have a current long-term partnership with

Kawasaki motorcycles Kawasaki motorcycles are manufactured by the Motorcycle & Engine division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. History Kawasaki Aircraft initially manufactured motorcycles under the Meguro name, having bought an ailing motorcycle manufacturer, Megu ...

, although they also sponsor

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

and

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

. Silkolene have also participated in the

Isle of Man TT races The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

, arguably, the toughest test in the world for any motorcycle. In Australia, in 2016 Fuchs are sponsoring

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

teams

Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing is an Australian motor racing team owned by Brad Jones based in Albury. The team competes in the Supercars Championship and the Super2 Series. Recently they have also returned to Australian Formula Ford where Brad and Kim be ...

and

Team 18 Team 18 (formerly known as Charlie Schwerkolt Racing) is an Australian motor racing team currently competing in the Supercars Championship, running two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye. Hist ...

, having previously sponsored

Tasman Motorsport Tasman Motorsport was a V8 Supercar racing team. It was formed in 2004 out of what was Lansvale Racing Team V8 Supercar team and was associated with Greg Murphy Racing as a satellite operation. Tasman Motorsport entered the series in 2004 ...

Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones's shares in Alan Jones ...

and

Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport, (formerly known as Erebus Racing,) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki. The team i ...

, as well as drag racing teams John Zappia Racing and Lamattina Top Fuel Racing.

References

External links

* (English) * (German)
Frankfurt Stock Exchange listing
(

Deutsche Börse Deutsche Börse AG () or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German company offering marketplace organizing for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to gl ...

)
Bloomberg

Reuters

Fuchs Lubricants
{{Authority control Motor oils Oil companies of Germany Manufacturing companies of Germany Multinational companies headquartered in Germany Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Companies based in Mannheim Manufacturing companies established in 1931 German companies established in 1931 Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange German brands Companies in the MDAX