Kögel Trailer
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Kögel Trailer GmbH & Co.KG is one of the largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles, amongst other things for trailers and semi-trailers. It had its headquarters in
Gersthofen Gersthofen () is a town in the district of Augsburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the west bank of the river Lech, approx. north of Augsburg. Gersthofen is divided into five districts (German: Stadtteile): Batzenhofen, Edenbergen (w ...
and was founded in 1934 by Franz Xaver Kögel.


History


1934-1940: beginnings

On 1 May 1934 Franz Xaver Kögel took over the wagon making business of his apprenticeship employer in
Neu-Ulm Neu-Ulm (, ; Swabian: ''Nej-Ulm'') is the seat of the Neu-Ulm district and a town in Swabia, Bavaria. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 58,978 (31 Decembe ...
. Franz Xaver Kögel learned his trade in this small business and had just taken his masters examination. Motorized transport of goods had just taken off with the autobahns in 1934, thus F. X. Kögel, with his wagon making business located within easy reach of the forge for chassis and trailer manufacture owned by August Welte was able to begin a forward-looking collaboration. Kögel provided the floors for the chassis and the side walls, and both companies needed to expand their businesses.


1950-1960: development

The fusion of both tradesmen's businesses in 1956 in Donautal made Kögel one of the first businesses to settle in the new industrial area. The transition from a tradesmen's business to an industrial concern was completed when production started in the new generously dimensioned manufacturing workshops in the Donautal industrial area. Industrial production of trailers and bodies had begun and continuous growth was achieved. However, special projects were also handled in addition to this manufacture, e.g. a 9-seater cab for the 70 kW Kaelbletractor.


1961-1991: acquisitions

In 1968 Kögel purchased additional production facilities in Karlsdorf near
Bruchsal Bruchsal (; South Franconian: ''Brusl'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Bruchsal is the lar ...
(Kamag) and in 1973 they purchased the Faka-Kannenberg vehicle manufacturer in
Bückeburg Bückeburg (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Bückeburg ha ...
near Hanover . After the fall of communism they added the
Werdau Werdau () is a town in Germany, part of the Landkreis Zwickau in Saxony. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 8 km from Zwickau. The town was mentioned as early as 1304, and in 1398 it was purchased by Frederick, then margrave of Meissen ...
factory in
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
and, in 1993, Kögel also took over the defunct "trailer manufacture" of the
Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke GmbH was a German vehicle manufacturer in Ulm. Its products were buses, Coach (bus), coaches, vehicle transporters, Trailer (vehicle), trailers and special vehicles like Snow grooming, snow groomer vehicles. The ...
in Burtenbach. A part-share in the commercial vehicle manufacturer Orlican in 1991 in the Czech Republic was converted by Kögel into a take-over at a later date, and they were made into a sub-supplier until the foundation of Kögel a.s. in 1996 in the Czech Republic. Kamag, a subsidiary of Kögel (also in Ulm since 1969) is concerned with the manufacture of heavy-duty self-driven combinations having payloads up to 10,000 t, and their customers also include NASA. In addition, two joint ventures were founded in the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


1991-2009: Kögel Fahrzeugwerke AG i Kögel Fahrzeugwerke GmbH

As the first and only company in the trailer and body industry, Kögel founded a limited company in 1991. In 2000 €25 million of investment was made in the factory in Burtenbach. The factory in Burtenbach became, with considerable investment, the most modern trailer factory in Europe. The Kögel Fahrzeugwerke AG in Ulm applied for the opening of insolvency proceedings in January 2004. This affected 1,186 employees. In 2004 this resulted in the take-over by Trailer Holding GmbH, in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, with the founding of "Kögel Fahrzeugwerke GmbH“, and the new company headquarters was in Burtenbach. Kögel is one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in Europe and its basic product, the semi-trailer, offers the largest selection and flexibility in the commercial vehicle market. In 2006 the company produced around 12,000 vehicles, of which more than two thirds were supplied to other European countries. The around 1,000 employees at home and abroad were able to achieve a turnover of more than €275 million. In 2006 Kögel introduced the brands "Kögel MAXX", "Kögel foxx" and "Kögel Phoenixx". The "Kögel" brand took over the function of an umbrella brand. While the "Kögel MAXX" brand covers the previous product range and is marketed as the main brand with qualified sales and individual consultation, the "Kögel foxx" brand became the first commercial vehicle brand to be marketed exclusively via the internet. The "Kögel Phoenixx" brand is used for the introduction of innovative products, such as the first flatbed semi-trailer made from glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GRP). The "Kögel Big-MAXX" - which, since 2010 has been called the Kögel Euro Trailer - was introduced by Kögel in 2005 as their contribution to dealing with future transport volumes. The Kögel Euro Trailer is a semi-trailer which has been extended in length by 1.3 metres and consequently can carry an additional 3 Euro pallets. Since the end of 2005, 300 of these vehicles have been in use with special permits throughout Germany in special forwarding companies. An assessment by Prof. Henning Wallentowitzdes from the ika in Aachen attested to the extended trailer's excellent suitability for use in practice. For the final approval of this trailer, a change to the length of trucks in Europe will be required. An unexpected collapse in turnover caused Kögel to reduce its production capacity and 120 contract workers and 81 employees on a limited contract were made redundant in July 2008. After the redundancies, Kögel still employs around 1,360 people domestically and abroad.


Since 2009: Kögel Trailer GmbH & Co. KG

Even though Kögel was chosen as the Turnarounder of the year and the best trailer brand in 2008, the company experienced, in the same way as the entire trailer sector, a collapse in demand of up to 90% following the financial crisis in September 2008. After producing around 24,000 trailers annually up to the middle of 2008, Kögel estimated a demand of just around 2,000 trailers in 2009. On 3 August 2009, Kögel Fahrzeugwerke GmbH in Burtenbach was forced to apply for insolvency. The insolvency proceedings were opened on the 30 October 2009. At the end of 2009, Kögel was taken over by its competitor Humbaur in
Gersthofen Gersthofen () is a town in the district of Augsburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the west bank of the river Lech, approx. north of Augsburg. Gersthofen is divided into five districts (German: Stadtteile): Batzenhofen, Edenbergen (w ...
, which operates a two-market strategy and thus can ensure the independence of the Kögel brand, which is managed as the re-founded Kögel Trailer GmbH & Co.KG. After intensive negotiations the entrepreneur Ulrich Humbaur, whose roots are in the
Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
region, as the new owner of Kögel agreed with the previous owners that the properties should be sold in their entirety to Humbaur. This ensures that Burtenbach will remain as the production facility for Kögel in the long-term This means that the two production facilities in Burtenbach and
Choceň Choceň (; ) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,600 inhabitants. Administrative division Choceň consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 c ...
(CZ) are in the sole possession of Ulrich Humbaur.


Re-invention

At the IAA in September 2010, Kögel presented their new vehicles for the forwarding and construction industries on the largest stand of all the trailer manufacturers. They exhibited the "Container chassis Port 40 multiplex" – a sliding chassis vehicle. They also showed the Euro Trailer Cool, which offers forwarding companies in the refrigerated transport sector the advantage of a refrigerated body extended by 1.3 m. Kögel offers the optimum trailer for every application with its 2nd generation of the Cargo platform trailer. In addition, they showed a trailer variant as a volume trailer, the "Kögel Mega Centre Axle Trailer“, which is new at Kögel. From the refrigerated vehicle range they presented the revised and extended "Kögel Cool Rail" for rail transport. In the construction sector, where the brand was once present, Kögel now offers the flatbed trailer as a turntable trailer or semi variant. A total of 1,000 orders prove that the products from the traditional brand from southern Germany continue to be in demand. The new start is visible at Kögel. The graphic image of the brand has been revised and developed. There have also been innovations on the home page and in the brand slogan. Since the end of September 2010 there has been a completely revised Kögel website (www.koegel.com).


Sources

* Magazine: Lastwagen + Omnibus ..100 Jahre LKW, Page 127 * Auto-Reporter.Net dated 28 January 2004


References


External links


Website of Kögel Trailer GmbH & Co.KG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kogel Fahrzeugwerke Trailer manufacturing companies Companies based in Bavaria German brands