During the year 1949, the Liebherr family business was created by Hans Liebherr. His first claim to fame was the success of his inexpensive and easy-to-assemble mobile tower crane. It was upon this invention that the foundation of the company flourished under. Now, The Liebherr company has grown to become one of the leading manufacturers within the world of construction equipment. The business has also earned the reputation of being the acknowledged provider of user-oriented technically innovative products and services in various fields. The company has presently become a "Group" working in every continent with over 35,000 workers and over 130 companies across the world.
The Liebherr Group has been divided into various company units so as to ensure a manageable operating size. These separate units operate independently. This particular set up enables the company the ability to be flexible to market signals and stay in tune with global competition. Moreover, having so many individual company units also ensures customer proximity and keeps customer service running at an optimum level.
The divisional control companies handle the production for the individual product segments and the operative management of the sales companies. The Liebherr Group now has 10 different product divisions.
Liebherr-International AG is the Liebherr Group's holding company. They are situated in Bulle, Switzerland and are totally owned by members of the Liebherr family. Now, the family business is being managed in the 2nd generation by Dr. H.C. Willi Liebherr and his sister Dr. H.C. Isolde Liebherr. Ever since 2012, several of the active individual divisions have been represented by family members in the 3rd generation such as: Sophie Albrecht, Jan Liebherr, Patricia Ruf and Stefanie Wohlfarth. These family members have been working hard together to help set up the course of the family business in the future. They are staying on top of residential buildings and large-scale industrial projects across the world.
Hans Liebherr began this quest during 1949, with his first company in the small South-German town of Kirchdorf/Iller. These days, Kirchdorf is amongst more than 20 key manufacturing sites of the Liebherr Group. They employ over 1400 people in that specific workforce and can average an annual output of about 2800 wheeled excavators. The company has enjoyed immense growth and diversity ever since it first started. The Liebherr Group continues to remain dedicated to implementing and engineering innovative designs. They have earned a successful and positive place in the material handling business.