Semperit

This Austrian rubber brand has its roots in the first half of the 19th century, making it the oldest rubber company still in operation. Although Semperit's production does not have the numbers of top manufacturers like Michelin or Goodyear, it has recently seen quite significant growth, proving that the brand's tyres can definitely be considered quality tyres.

About the company

Semperit tyres are popular mainly due to their high reliability, safety and quality driving characteristics at affordable prices. Today, Semperit employs over 9,000 people at its rubber plants, almost double the number of employees in 2000. An important note on this figure, however, is the fact that Semperit is now less involved in tyre production and is focusing on other rubber products.

History

The history of the Austrian company Semperit dates back to 1850. In this year, the first ever factory in Europe with production focused on rubber products was founded in Wimpassing. At the time of the company's foundation, there was no demand for rubber tyres as cars were not commonly available. This changed with the arrival of the new century and in 1900 the company included car tyres in its production. Semperit was then founded in 1906. The name was coined from the Latin "semper it" - still running. In 1936, the company began to market a winter tyre called the Goliath, the first Semperit winter tyre and one of the first winter tyres in Western Europe. During the time that Austria was annexed to Germany by Hitler, Semperit was forced to cooperate with Continental AG of Germany, which in practice meant that all production processes were controlled by the Germans. After World War II, much of the machinery in Semperit's plants was dismantled by the Red Army, which led to a reduction in production after World War II. In 1956, the company included the then modern tubeless and white sidewall tyres in production. Over the next few years, the company, which had fallen into disrepair after World War II, switched to new technologies, and in 1967 modern radial tyres were introduced into production instead of the outdated and less safe diagonal tyres. As part of the company's restructuring in 1984, the Semperit Reifen AG division was spun off from the Semperit AG entity, and a year later the German Continental AG became the company's owner. With the beginning of the new millennium, Semperit published a number of new tyre types. Since 2009, the company has again succeeded in increasing production and increasing the number of employees.

Operations

Semperit AG nowadays has a large number of subsidiaries involved in the rubber industry. Semperit products are therefore also well known in the field of latex gloves, escalator equipment, etc.