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Magneti Marelli history
Magneti Marelli company history timeline
These commissions led in 1919 to a close collaboration with FIAT and the fully-fledged establishment of the "Fabbrica italiana Magneti Marelli" company.
In 1922, a French subsidiary was formed in Paris and a London-based venture followed a year later. It had in 1920 started its long-running involvement in automotive racing; several decades later, it was supplying Formula One and motorcycle racing teams.
1921 Complete Exterior Lighting System Mercedes Knight with Bosch electric lighting system including main headlamp, position lamp, front light for curves and a side illumination lamp, trafficator and electrical rear light.
In 1922, a French subsidiary was formed in Paris and a London-based venture followed a year later.
1924 OSRAM Bilux Bulbs with individual filament which can be switched between high and low beam with a performance of 60 m range and a luminance of 1 lux.
The company underwent a restructuring in 1924, and soon established an aviation division.
In 1924, Noel founded Magneti Marelli’s first in-house magazine, Sprazzi e Bagliori.
1928 Multi-Cavity Multi-Function LampRearlighting from Bosch encorporating various functions are produced for Mercedes 26/120/180 PS Typ S.Introduction of trafficator lights.
A second factory had opened in 1929 as the company prepared to produce gramophones and radios for the Italian market.
1929: the production of automobile batteries started.
The Carpi plant was suggested by Vico D’Incerti: originally from Carpi, a degree in engineering from the Politecnico of Turin, in 1929 he was recruited by Bruno Quintavalle to work for Magneti Marelli, in Sesto San Giovanni, after an initial experience in Lancia.
1930: the Radiomarelli brand was created for the marketing of Magneti Marelli radio products and, subsequently, of television sets.
In 1930, the very first radios made entirely by Magneti Marelli were displayed at the Milan Trade Fair in order to test the public’s response, which was immediate.
It was precisely the year 1930 that marked the origins of the historical name Radiomarelli, the trademark with which radios and, later on, televisions and household appliances made by Magneti Marelli and intended for the mass production, will be sold.
1931: the production of batteries for electric-drive vehicles, submarines and for train lighting applications was started.
In 1931, a crowd would gather at the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery in Milan every Monday night to listen, from the Radiomarelli store windows, to the concerts held in the Hall of the Royal Conservatory of Milan and broadcast to the public through the Radiomarelli Musagete radio.
1932: Magneti Marelli set up Fivre, Fabbrica Italiana Valvole Radio Elettriche, one of the first and most important Italian companies for the production of electrical radio valves and, subsequently, of cathode tubes intended for future television sets.
In 1935 the two launched an electrical equipment distributor called Mabo.
1935: the production of automobile and motorcycle sparkplugs was started, an activity that will provide Magneti Marelli with fame and popularity for over 50 years.
Pavia-area lightbulb manufacturer Vetrerie Pavesi was acquired in 1938.
In this context, in 1939 Magneti Marelli proceeded to purchase a plant located in Carpi, a small city in the province of Modena.
In 1939, almost twenty years before the official birth of television in Italy, Magneti Marelli had already produced experimental television sets with which to carry out the very first experiments on television broadcasts.
In 1949, the company began producing its first television sets.
The first Formula 1 World Championship was organized in 1950.
1954: Magneti Marelli built the radio bridges for the entire Italian weather network being completed at the time.
1956: Geneva’s CERN entrusted Magneti Marelli with the design and construction of the acceleration units of the largest proton synchrotron in the world.
The name derived from the car for which the ignition was designed: the Ferrari Dino, the first rear-engined road Ferrari, inspired by the last sports engine designed by Dino Ferrari, son of “Drake” Enzo, who died prematurely in 1956.
Magneti Marelli sold a half interest in Fivre to Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., a unit of General Telephone and Electronics International, in 1958, but bought back this interest several years later.
But the projects that top management was most proud of included the execution, in 1959, of the accelerator units for the first particle accelerator in the world, the famous proton synchrotron at the CERN in Geneva.
In the 1960 the portable versions were introduced, smaller in size and in coloured plastic as dictated by the fashion of the time, often advertised through commercials featuring beautiful girls having fun.
The launch of RAI’s second television channel, specifically to broadcast the 1960 Olympics in Rome, took place through the activation of Magneti Marelli transmitters and infrastructures.
1962 Halogen Auxiliary LightsIntroduction of the first Halogen auxiliary lights.
Magneti Marelli exited the professional telecommunications equipment business in 1963 when it sold its stake in Marelli Lenkurt S.p.A., a joint venture set up just three years earlier with a unit of General Telephone and Electronics International.
In 1963, the company bought a 51 percent holding in Prestolite Italiana, one of a number of spark plug companies it acquired.
In 1967 the company was entirely taken over by FIAT and the trade-mark underwent its first restyling.
The Enrico Toti, launched in 1967 was the first submarine to be built in post-war Italy.
It had introduced an electronic ignition system called Dinoplex in 1968.
In 1968, Magneti Marelli produced its first electronic ignition, the Magneti Marelli Dinoplex.
It started a company called Mako in 1969 to build and run an electrical and pneumatic equipment factory in Turkey.
1969: Mako, a company with head office in Turkey dedicated in the production of electrical and compressed air equipment, was founded.
1971 H4 Halogen Dual Filament BulbBosch introduces a H4 dual filament bulb headlamp with one reflector for both beam modes: Main and dipped beam.
Magneti Marelli stopped making radio and TV equipment in 1972, though its Radiomarelli unit continued to sell such items.
In 1973, Magneti Marelli was organized into Divisions and, in the overall corporate reorganization, the Carpi plant became part of the “electrical equipment” division.
Radiomarelli's consumer sales business was sold to Seimart in 1975.
In 1976, the plant was moved to the new industrial area, at the address of Via della Scienza 6, where Magneti Marelli was the first large factory to populate the budding industrial area.
The firm became a holding company with a number of subsidiaries, including Fabbrica Batterie York, a manufacturer the company had acquired control of in 1977.
since 1978 vehicle lighting from Carello
In 1978, Magneti Marelli Holding S.A. was formed to supervise Marelli's international operations.
1979: Marelli Autronica, a joint venture between Magneti Marelli, Fiat and Weber (Bologna) was set up for the study and production of electronic control devices for ignition and fuel supply systems.
Marelli launched a spark plug factory in Iraq in 1981.
In 1983, Fiat made the Digiplex electronic ignition standard on all its automobiles.
1984: the Magneti Marelli headquarters was transferred from Sesto San Giovanni to Cinisello Balsamo (MI).
The name of Fimm, Fabbrica Italiana Magneti Marelli, was shortened to Magneti Marelli in 1985.
1986 BMW 7-Series Projector Type HeadlampInstead of parabolic reflectors used so far, this headlamp was the first to have projectors with aspheric inner lenses and reflector surfaces in the form of a three-axis ellipsoid, with the bulb in the focal point (Hella “DE” or Bosch “PES” headlamp).
In 1986, the French conglomerate Matra put some auto components units up for sale in order to focus on other businesses.
Thickness and weights were revised but most of all block lettering was adopted instead of the one with serifs used thus far in a revitalising operation in 1987 that improved legibility without however essentially changing trade-mark design.
1987 Magneti Marelli lightsMagneti Marelli founds the Lighting Group.
1987: Magneti Marelli was reorganized as an industrial holding, with leading and well-known European brands such as Weber, Veglia Borletti, Carello, Siem, Solex and Jaeger became part of the company.
1991 Xenon-LightA new epoque in vehicle lighting started – Xenon-light: Electronic controlled and ignitor switched high intensity discharge bulbs were used the first time in series cars‘ headlamps.
1991: the Magneti Marelli headquarters was transferred to its current location in Corbetta, Milan, which was previously the head office of Veglia Borletti.
The company continued to form new foreign subsidiaries, such as Magneti Marelli Poland in 1992.
Following a radical business transformation, the Company engaged in strategic acquisitions and sales: Magneti Marelli’s presence in Carpi ended in 1994, after more than fifty years.
1994: merger between Magneti Marelli and Gilardini, originating the Magneti Marelli maxi hub in the field of automotive components.
Total revenues were nearly $4 billion in 1995, when the group had almost 24,000 employees.
Cenciarini, Renzo A., and Stefania Licini, Magneti Marelli: Its History and Business Transformation, with an introduction by Giuseppe Volpato, Milan: Giuffre Editore, 1996.
1996: Magneti Marelli started its operations in China with the Guangzhou plant, strengthening its presence through the years with additional production facilities in Shanghai and Wuhu.
1997 First All-LED TaillampA rearlighting unit with tailfunction, turn-indicator and brake light all in LED technology.
In 1997 Marelli acquired leading South American parts supplier Cofap.
In 1999 Magneti Marelli formed the Automotive Lighting joint venture with Germany's Robert Bosch.
Marelli had sales of EUR 4.1 billion ($3.4 billion) in 1999; 83 percent was from Europe.
Fiat S.p.A. owned 70 percent of Marelli until May 2000, when it acquired the remaining shares.
The historical materials found in the Archive are constantly being added to, and they cover a period from the end of the nineteenth century until the year 2000.
The restyling carried out in 2001 brought in colour changes with lettering now in blue against a white background and the inclusion of the logotype within an ovoid figure.
2001 Acquisition of rear lamp supplier SeimaThe Seima Group consists of the companies Axo, Yorka, Seima italiana.
2001 First Neon Taillamp worldwideRearlighting systems based on Neon-technology opened again new styling opportunities.
2003 Introduction of Dynamic Curve LightBMW launches Xenon headlamps with dynamically swivelled projector units.
2003 First adaptive rearlighting systemusing the automatically activated Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) function from Automotive Lighting for Peugeot 807.
"Bordone Aims to Make Marelli Profitable Again," Automotive News Europe, May 17, 2004.
Miel, Rhoda, "Magneti Marelli Expands in N. America," Automotive News Europe, October 4, 2004.
The Midas business was sold to Norauto Group of France in 2004.
2005 AFS with Active Infrared Emitter in Mercedes-Benz S-ClassIn 2005, Mercedes-Benz created a sensation with the first world-wide sold active night vision System ANV. Like the AFS-headlamp as a whole, the active infrared emitter is supplied by Automotive Lighting, Brotterode, Germany.
Fiat continued to account for a large share of Magneti Marelli's revenues, about 44 percent in 2005.
After establishing an instrument cluster factory at the southern port of Guangzhou, it started making lights at a plant in central China around 2005.
2006 Launch of production plant in ChinaAutomotive Lighting started to produce lamps in a chinese manufacturing plant.
2007 First All-LED taillamp Jaguar XKRwith 6 functions in semiconductor technology from Automotive Lighting, St Julien, France.
2008 Joint Venture for Indian MarketA joint venture of Magneti Marelli and Motherson Sumi Systems for lighting products was founded in India.
2008 First World-Wide Series All-LED HeadlampAudi and AL developed the first „true“ All-LED headlamp for the Audi R8.
The project for the Magneti Marelli Historical Archive began in 2008, and it originated from the awareness of the great value possessed by the historical industrial heritage generated by Magneti Marelli in over 90 years of history.
2009 First 3D-Lightbar Application in LED-TaillampsSecond generation of light-guide technology started to be produced using thick 3-dimensional light bar optics for BMW 7-series taillamps.
In 2009, Magneti Marelli was a pioneer in the supply of KERS, the system for the recovery of kinetic energy, to the Formula 1.
2010 Daimler Innovation Awardfor the camera controlled All-LED headlamp.
The new location of the Magneti Marelli Historical Archive was inaugurated on 7th March 2011.
2011 Red Dot Design Awardfor the design of the intelligent camera controlled All-LED headlamp “Intelligent Light System” (ILS) of Mercedes-Benz CLS 2nd generation.
2011 Introduction of the PML for Pedestrian ProtectionThe world’s first LED „Active Night Vision“ system (ANV) with LED-based „Pulsed Marker Light“ (PML) is introduced in the Mercedes-Benz in CL-class Coupe.
2014 LASER-battle by BMW and AudiWith BMW i8, the bavarian carmaker brings the first Laser High Beam on the road.
2014 EU Eco Innovation CertificateThe scalable e-Light with a power consumption of 11 Watt in the low beam was been honored as eco innovation by the European Commission.
2015 Automotive Lighting and Audiare honored by the Red Dot Design Award. “Best of the Best” for the headlamp of Audi TT3 electronic 1-row matrix.
2016 Adaptive All-LED Taillampwith sparkling shell reflectors including the functions “ambient light adaptation”, “emergency signaling” and “collision warning” for Mercedes-Benz E-Class on the market.
2016 First REAL MATRIX Headlamp on the RoadThe matrix module with 84 pixel in 3 rows was engineered and developed for Mercedes-Benz.
2017 First Adaptive All-LED Headlamp with Multi-Colour ChipsAutomotive Lighting launched DS7 headlamp with 7 mechatronic actuators per lamp, multi-colour (RGB) chips generating 11 lighting functions controlled by 3 level communication network (CAN, LINext, LINint) – A real magic movement.
2018 First Camera-Controlled LASER Headlamp with ADBAutomotive Lighting introduced intelligent ADB-headlamps with second generation LASER-modules and integrated safety control concept.
In 2018, Calsonic Kansei and Magneti Marelli announced that they would join forces to create the world’s 7th largest global independent automotive components supplier based on total revenues.
In 2019, CK Holdings Co., Ltd. completed the acquisition of Magneti Marelli from FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Transaction.
"Magneti Marelli Holding SpA ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/magneti-marelli-holding-spa
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Magneti Marelli competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faurecia Automotive Seating | 1985 | $18.9B | 499 | - |
| Hino Motors Manufacturing Usa, Inc. | - | $161.5M | 64 | 2 |
| Kasai North America | 1986 | $623.7M | 3,000 | 37 |
| Lenawee Stamping Corporation | 1987 | $68.0M | 330 | - |
| Melling Engine Parts | 1946 | $36.0M | 500 | - |
| Carlex Glass America | 2010 | $760.0M | 3,000 | - |
| Mobis Alabama, LLC | - | $1.9B | 3,000 | 106 |
| Nexteer Automotive | 1906 | $3.9B | 12,100 | 17 |
| AISIN | 1949 | $25.3B | 100,000 | 163 |
| American Mitsuba | 1986 | $270.0M | 750 | - |
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Magneti Marelli may also be known as or be related to Magneti Marelli, Magneti Marelli Powertrain U.S.A., LLC, Magneti Marelli Powertrain USA, Magneti Marelli Powertrain USA LLC, Magneti Marelli Powertrain Usa Llc and Magneti Marelli SpA.