Webasto Americas Celebrates its Golden Anniversary

Webasto, a leading global automotive supplier of roof and electrification solutions, celebrates its 50-year anniversary in North America. Under the theme of The Drive to 50—and Beyond, the company is reflecting on its storied history while also focusing on the road ahead.
 
Founded in Germany in 1901, Webasto Group expanded to the United States on February 14,
1974, when it signed a joint venture agreement with another automotive supplier, and then
acquired all shares in 2000, marking the beginning of a successful journey in the region. Since
then, Webasto has more than tripled its sales in the Americas region and generates about one
quarter of Webasto Group’s sales globally.
 
“The founding of our subsidiary in the U.S. was the starting point of a consistent
internationalization and thus a very decisive milestone in our company history,” said Holger
Engelmann, CEO of Webasto Group. “Being close to the customer worldwide and producing in
the market for the market are still basic principles of the entire Webasto Group. Strong,
independent regions, such as the Americas, are the basis for the successful further
development of our company.”
 
In the time since it arrived in North America, Webasto has expanded its product portfolio in the
region to include automotive roofs, thermal management, and electrification solutions. In recent
years, the company has grown to include approximately 4,000 employees across nine sites in
the U.S. and Mexico, which encompasses seven manufacturing plants, located in Michigan and
Kentucky in the U.S. and Irapuato and Puebla in Mexico. Most recently, Webasto Americas
celebrated the opening of its new headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan (2021) and two new
plants, one in Plymouth, Michigan (2020) and one in New Hudson, Michigan (2021).
 
“We’ve grown immensely in the last five years, and this is indicative of the momentum we’re
experiencing as we mark our anniversary,” said Brad Ring, president and CEO of Webasto
Americas. “As we reflect on our drive to fifty years, we’re equally focused on the road ahead—
the next fifty—and we’ll continue to race forward by leveraging the one differentiator that
brought us this far: our people.”
 
“Despite being 50 years old, there are no signs of a 'midlife crisis' in our American organization
– quite the opposite. Over the past five years, in particular, we have experienced a very positive
development with many extremely innovative projects. With a view to the coming years, the
Americas clearly remain a growth region for us,” emphasized Engelmann.
 
The company will celebrate The Drive to 50—and Beyond over the course of 2024 with a series
of region-wide activities, which will include Webasto Americas’ employees, customers,
stakeholders and its communities.



About Webasto

As a global innovative systems partner to the mobility industry, Webasto is one of the 100 largest suppliers  to the automotive sector worldwide. In development, manufacturing and sales, the company focuses on roof systems on the one hand and on vehicle electrification on the other hand. The product range includes, openable and fixed panoramic roofs, electric high voltage heaters and batteries, as well as thermo management solutions. Among the customers of Webasto are manufacturers of passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and boats, as well as dealers and end customers. In 2022, the Group generated sales of over 4 billion euros and employed about 16,800 people at more than 50 locations. The headquarters of the company, which was founded in 1901, is located in Stockdorf near Munich (Germany).

For more information, please visit www.webasto.com.