Autodoc

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Autodoc GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding May 1, 2008
Seat Berlin , Germany
management Alexej Erdle ( managing director )
Number of employees ~ 1,000
sales 415 million euros
Branch Retail / e-commerce
Website www.autodoc.de
Status: 2018

Autodoc is a company with headquarters in Berlin . It operates online shops for cars - and truck - Spare parts in 26 countries. Customers primarily include private individuals and smaller workshops . The company was founded in 2008 and has operated under the Autodoc brand since 2015. Due to its strong growth, it is one of the industry's " hidden champions ".

history

In 2008 Alexej Erdle and Max Wegner founded the company E&S Pkwteile GmbH. The reason for this was the pricing policy of many workshops to sell spare parts at high prices. Under the domain pkwteile.de they opened an online shop that could offer consumers better prices. The business idea turned out to be successful and the company established itself sustainably on the market. The founders initially packed and shipped spare parts themselves, and in 2009 the first employee was hired.

In the early years the company was located in Berlin-Weißensee . In 2010, new premises in Berlin-Lichtenberg were put into operation. Expansion into Austria and Switzerland began in 2011 . Great Britain , France , Italy and Spain followed in 2012 . The company later moved to larger office and logistics space within the same district.

In 2015 the company was renamed Autodoc GmbH. The public image has now been internationalized through translations and country-specific top-level domains . In the 2016 financial year, sales exceeded the mark of 100 million euros, and in 2017 it reached more than 250 million euros. In 2018, Autodoc also added spare parts for trucks and other commercial vehicles to its range.

According to its own information, the company is the top-selling online retailer for auto parts in Europe. Regardless of the industry, according to an evaluation by the Financial Times in 2018, in terms of sales, the company is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe.

Autodoc has had a representative office at Kurfürstendamm 22 in Berlin (Kranzler-Eck) since June 2019. The location in Berlin-Lichtenberg remains the headquarters of the spare parts dealer.

structure

Headquarters in Berlin-Lichtenberg (2018)

The registered capital of Autodoc currently amounts to 25,000 euros. The vast majority of the shares accounted for by Alexei Erdle and Max Wegner. Alexej Erdle has also been the sole managing partner since the company was founded. Another partner in the company is Vitalij Kungel, who has the power of attorney .

Others

The company's catalog includes a. Around 2.5 million car and truck spare parts from the engine, chassis, light, electrics, ventilation and tire sectors.

Autodoc has been the official partner of the FIA ​​World Rally Championship (WRC) since January 2019 and acts as a sponsor for all European races. In 2018 Autodoc was the official partner of the ADAC Rallye Masters.

At the end of 2016, the soccer club Alemannia Aachen announced a partnership with the company. The company advertised on the jerseys of the U15, U16 and U19 juniors.

Autodoc maintains accompanying YouTube channels with instructions for repairing or changing parts on common car models.

At the end of March 2020, Autodoc donated 50,000 euros to the University Medical Center Essen for research into the virus as part of the nationwide “Donations for Corona” initiative. The Institute of Virology and the Clinic for Infectious Diseases at Essen University Medical Center are using an existing cooperation with the Clinic for Infectious Diseases at Union Hospital in Wuhan, China, to examine the virus.

criticism

In 2017, Autodoc ads appeared on pages with right-wing populist content. The company confirmed the ad placement, but rejected the allegations of proximity to right-wing extremist ideas and acknowledged democratic principles. Autodoc points out that, as is common in online trading, banners are placed via third-party service providers ( programmatic advertising ).

In addition, reports the New York Times newspaper, articles on sometimes controversial social issues were available on a subpage of the Autodoc website that was only accessible by entering the direct URL. Autodoc GmbH also admitted that and referred to search engine optimization that takes place with such content. Individual voices deny that subpages with articles that contain content that is irrelevant for the actual corporate purpose are useful for search engine optimization. Search engine optimization is an essential part of Autodoc's marketing strategy. Autodoc has now deleted the subpages with dubious content.

The RBB summarized the company's reaction to the affair as follows: "The New York Times, the company spokesman for Autodoc, Thomas Casper, said the company had 'no interest in supporting right-wing media' and added: 'We are vehemently against racism and right-wing extremist principles'. The Autodoc marketing team is working with third-party companies on online advertising, and the company has tightened control mechanisms and hired an external media agency to try to guarantee that no more advertising is placed on sites with right-wing extremist content. "

A sponsorship of Berlin schools with safety vests for first graders by Autodoc was ended as a result of the affair.

Web links

Commons : Autodoc  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c 2016 annual financial statements. In: Business register. Bundesanzeiger Verlag, May 17, 2018, accessed October 30, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c d People like to screw things around on their own car - online spare parts dealer Autodoc is expanding rapidly . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . December 11, 2018.
  3. ↑ Imprint. Autodoc, accessed October 30, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Ingo Jagels: Good business for Autodoc. In: Auto Motor Accessories. Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, August 14, 2018, accessed October 30, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b Autodoc continues to expand and now also offers truck parts. In: Finanz.net. December 5, 2018, accessed December 10, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Alexander Hüsing: A grown-up that hardly anyone knows (254 million sales). In: German Startups. July 25, 2018, accessed October 30, 2018 .
  7. ↑ a b c Autodoc celebrates its 10th anniversary. In: press portal. July 4, 2018, accessed October 30, 2018 .
  8. ↑ a b buycarparts.de. In: Wayback Machine. Internet Archive, accessed October 30, 2018 .
  9. ↑ autodoc.de. In: Wayback Machine. Internet Archive, accessed October 30, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Autodoc: 10 years on the market. Autodoc, accessed June 11, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Ian Smith, David Blood, Ændrew Rininsland: The FT 1000: The Complete List of Europe's Fastest-Growing Companies. (No longer available online.) In: Financial Times. April 6, 2018, archived from the original on April 6, 2018 ; accessed on June 11, 2019 .
  12. ↑ AUTODOC opens company representation in the heart of Berlin. Retrieved July 1, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Alexej Erdle from Berlin. In: Moneyhouse. Retrieved October 30, 2018 .
  14. ↑ List of shareholders. In: Business Register. January 29, 2015, accessed on October 30, 2018 (Charlottenburg District Court, HRB 114045).
  15. ↑ WRC seals Autodoc partnership. Accessed June 5, 2019 .
  16. ↑ January 23, 2019 | AUTODOC will sponsor the FIA ​​World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2019. In: cometis AG. January 23, 2019, accessed June 13, 2019 .
  17. ^ ADAC Rallye Masters. In: ADAC Motorsport. Retrieved October 30, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Autodoc new shirt sponsor in the NLZ. Alemannia Aachen, December 22, 2016, accessed on October 30, 2018 .
  19. ↑ autodoc.de. In: YouTube. Retrieved December 10, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Autodoc GmbH supports donations for Corona with € 50,000 for research into the coronavirus: Foundation University Medicine Essen. University Medical Center Essen, March 26, 2020, accessed on April 3, 2020 .
  21. ↑ www.presseportal.de: [1]
  22. ↑ [2]
  23. ↑ [3]
  24. ↑ [4]
  25. ^ Jo Becker: The Global Machine Behind the Rise of Far-Right Nationalism . In: The New York Times . August 10, 2019, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed August 17, 2019]).
  26. ↑ Distribution of sponsored safety vests to primary school children stopped. Website of the RBB. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  27. ^ Arne Semsrott : Advertisement at the school: Acts on Autodoc sponsorship published in Berlin. In: FragDenStaat . October 14, 2019, accessed July 5, 2020 .