Liebherr Group history

The successor model of the first Liebherr tower crane is introduced in 1950.

In 1952, Liebherr introduced a new model, the TK 28, which was equipped with an adjustable arm.

In 1954, the first refrigerator is built there and series production begins just one year later.

In March 1960, he sets-up the Liebherr-Aero-Technik GmbH company in Lindenberg, in Allgäu (Germany). From the outset, the aim is to develop and manufacture prototypes in-house.

A new factory for mobile cranes that were mounted onto a chassis and could therefore be moved rapidly between construction sites opened in Ehingen, Germany, in 1969.

1970: Liebherr Mining Equipment Co. is established in the United States.

All in all, the crane production cost the company the profits it had made with excavators in 1979, and the manufacture of cranes in Virginia was ceased soon afterwards.

In 1980, Hans Liebherr told Fortune reporter Robert Ball that he believed that owing money to other people was gambling.

In 1983, the company's headquarters were moved to Switzerland after the establishment of the new Swiss-based management holding company Liebherr-International AG.

When company founder Hans Liebherr died in 1993, at age 78, his industrial enterprise generated roughly $2.5 billion in sales annually.

In 1995, Liebherr helped establish a manufacturing plant for truck gears in Tatarstan for the Russian truck maker Kamaz.

In 1997, the company acquired Axel Friedmann Verkehrstechnik, a manufacturer of air conditioning systems for high-speed trains, adding a new branch to the group's portfolio.

Also in 2002, Liebherr launched an investment project to expand the wellness sections of Liebherr's two upscale hotels in Austria to accommodate the trend towards health-tourism.