Utsch
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Founder | Erich Utsch |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | Vehicle license plates |
| Revenue |  €94.9 million (2020) |
Number of employees | 998 (2020) |
| Website | utsch |
Erich Utsch AG (shortly Utsch) is a manufacturing company headquartered in Siegen, Germany.[1] It was founded in 1961 as a family business and sold to external investors in 2016. Utsch is specialized in vehicle registration and identification,[2] particularly license plates.[3] According to independent media reports and market research, Utsch is the global market leader.[4][5][6][7]
History
In 1961 Erich Utsch founded a company to produce license plates.[8] He saw a business opportunity in the increasing motorization of the post-war period. During the very first years, Utsch used a converted wine press; later, the company developed specialized presses.[9] After Utsch died in 1969, his son Manfred took over management. He invested in new technologies and gradually entered foreign markets. As of fiscal year 2015, 80% of all revenues came from abroad.[10]
2001, Utsch changed its legal structure from Kommanditgesellschaft (KG) to Aktiengesellschaft (AG). Until 2016, the founder family retained a majority stake in the company. Then Manfred Utsch sold the company to Australian and Swedish investors.[6][11]
In 2020, Utsch joined forces with Hill Numberplates, a heavyweight competitor with major activities in the United Kingdom and France and a presence in parts of Asia, and Africa. Both companies created the world's largest license plate group.[12]
Corporation
Utsch is a private German stock corporation. The Erich Utsch AG is the group's parent, with a dozen fully consolidated subsidiaries in several countries, including France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The LicenSys Australasia Pty. Ltd. is a semi-independent subgroup of Utsch, being responsible for the Asia-Pacific markets.[13]
Products
The company's core business is the production of vehicle license plates.[14] Utsch supports various country-specific security features such as emblems, laser codes, watermarks, or holograms.[15]
Besides the production of license plates, Utsch sells machines, tools, and other equipment for related production and distribution processes.[9] These include blocking and counter-pressure tools, embossing presses, hot stamping machines, laminators, and laser coding equipment.[16]
Customers include governments from countries from around the world.[17] Examples are the Italian Republic, which commissioned Utsch to handle conversion of license plates to new EU standards;[18] the company supplied millions of official license plates to Egypt and the Iraq, too.[19][20]
See also
References
- ^ Erich Utsch AG, Bloomberg, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Weber, Stefan (May 6, 2002), "Sicherheitskonzepte mit einem Stück Blech." [Safety Concepts With a Piece of Sheet Metal.], Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German), p. 27
- ^ Weikard, André (October 27, 2014), "Vom Erfolg geprägt" [Pressed by Success], Focus (in German), pp. 100–101, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Lamprecht, Peter (March 30, 2003), "Stiller Weltmeister aus Siegen" [Silent World Champion From Siegen], Welt am Sonntag (in German), p. 87
- ^ Herwig, Marc (June 3, 2006), "Wie eine Siegener Firma Weltmarktführer wurde." [How a Company From Siegen Became the World Market Leader.], Spiegel Online (in German), retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ a b Siedenbiedel, Christian (July 24, 2008), "Keiner produziert mehr Autokennzeichen als er." [No One Produces More License Plates Than He Does.], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German), retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ "Global Vehicle License Plate Market Growth 2021–2026", Market Research Insights, April 2021, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Danhong, Zhang (May 23, 2014), "Der Schilderkönig" [The King of Plates], Deutsche Welle (in German), retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ a b Müller, Anja (July 30, 2014), "Von der Weinpresse zum Weltmarktführer" [From Wine Press to World Market Leader], Handelsblatt (in German), retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Webb, Alex (April 1, 2015), "Germany's Export Engines", Markets Magazine, Bloomberg, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Menzel, Stefan (October 17, 2001), "Der König im Schilderwald" [The King in the Plate Forest], Handelsblatt (in German), p. 24
- ^ "Nummernschild-Größen gehen zusammen." [License Plate Heavyweights Go Together.], Siegener Zeitung (in German), February 20, 2020, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ "Annual Report", Company Register (in German and English), Bundesanzeiger, December 19, 2019, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Weltmarktführer und Bestleistungen der Industrie aus Südwestfalen. [World Market Leaders and Top Industrial Performers From South Westphalia.] (PDF) (in German), Arnsberg: Chamber of Commerce and Industry Siegen, February 2013, p. 100, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Products, Utsch, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ Systems, Utsch, retrieved January 4, 2022
- ^ "Prägender Erfolg" [Formative Success], Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German), p. 26, June 5, 2010
- ^ "Siegerländer Technik für Italien" [Siegerland Technology for Italy], Rhein-Zeitung (in German), May 13, 1998
- ^ "Erich Utsch: Kennzeichen für ganz Ägypten" [Erich Utsch: License Plates for the Whole of Egypt], Die Welt (in German), p. 14, July 7, 2008
- ^ Pickshaus, Adrian (July 19, 2009), "Kennzeichen D // Die Utsch AG aus Siegen exportiert Nummernschilder in alle Welt – jetzt auch in den Irak." [License Plate D // Utsch AG From Siegen Exports License Plates All Over the World - Now Also to Iraq.], Der Tagesspiegel (in German), p. 23