The Rosenbauer Group is one of the world’s three largest manufacturers of fire-service vehicles and firefighting equipment, based in Leonding, Austria. Rosenbauer supplies the fire fighting sector in over 100 countries with a wide range of custom fire and rescue apparatus and services. It produces its extensive series of fire fighting vehicles and aerials in three continents, to both European and US standards.
History
Founding and development
The first Austria-wide firefighting enterprise was founded by Johann Rosenbauer in Linz in 1866. Beside manual fire pumps from different manufacturers, helmets, buttons and so on, the company was also selling equipment for fencing, sports and playgrounds. Konrad Rosenbauer took over the company in 1888, a turning point from which it would manufacture its own fire extinguishing equipment. After moving to a larger site, the company traded its name for K. Rosenbauer & Kneitschel, Fabrik für Lösch- und Wehrgerät und Metallwaren. In 1908, Rosenbauer started producing gas-powered pumps. The first fire truck was built 1918. In 1926, the new Automobilspritzengesellschaft Lohner & Rosenbauer shipped its first vehicle to China. From 1930 onward, Rosenbauer was also able to produce its own two-stroke engines. The company had a production site in Iran, until the fall of the Shah. Since the 1970s, Rosenbauer has collaborated with Carvatech, for the manufacture of firefighting vehicle bodies. In the middle of the 1980s, Rosenbauer introduced the Falcon, a vehicle which had a chassis developed especially for firefighting vehicles. The Falcon, with many custom and unproven parts, was prone to failures and long down-time, dooming custom chassis apparatuses to failure in Europe.
Recent times
Rosenbauer International AG has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1994. 2010, Rosenbauer had over 2000 employees worldwide and turnover was about €595 Million Euros. Over 90% of the production is exported and the company has sites in Luckenwalde, Passau, Karlsruhe, Oberglatt, Madrid, Lyons, Wyoming and Singapore. The company has expanded activities to flying firefighting vehicles, water cannons for police forces and has come back on the firefighters fittings. Beginning of 2011, German antitrust authorities sentenced Rosenbauer, Schlingmann GmbH & Co. KG, Albert Ziegler GmbH & Co. KG and Iveco Magirus Brandschutztechnik GmbH to a total of €28 million fines for cartel practices.
