Centigon (company)

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Centigon
legal form Corporation
founding Origins to 1876
Seat Lamballe
Number of employees 1000 (110 in Germany)
Branch Armor in civil vehicle construction
Website www.centigon.com

Centigon , based in Lamballe , France, is an armoring company for civil vehicle construction . Centigon is part of the Chinese Dongfeng Motor Corporation group.

history

The roots go back to 1876 when the special wagon construction company "O'Gara-Hess and Eisenhardt" was founded in Fairfield (Ohio) . This company produced its first motorized vehicle in 1906, and armored vehicle production began in 1942. After a few years, a bulletproof vehicle was developed for the US President Harry S Truman ; The first armored limousine for the President followed in 1949 . From 1948 to 2001, all US presidents drove in this company's vehicles. In addition, various US governors, military and politicians were supplied during the same period. Over sixty foreign leaders also trusted US products.

The depth of production ranged from limousines and sports cars to money transporters and special emergency vehicles for the police and security forces. The company therefore also became the prime contractor when it came to armoring the Humvee for the US Army .

During the 1990s the company expanded abroad, opening offices in Mexico , Brazil , France , Russia , Colombia and the Philippines . The companies formed a group of companies called "Kroll O'Gara Co.", which was taken over by "Armor Holdings" (see also ArmorGroup ) on April 23, 2001 , and from which it was also given the name for the entire new group of companies. On August 23, 2001, the $ 53 million deal was closed.

In 2005 Armor Holdings changed its corporate identity and used the name Centigon , which had been used by the subsidiary of the founding company O'Gara-Hess and Eisenhardt in Colombia as early as 1998 .

In 2007 the company was acquired by BAE Systems for $ 4.1 billion.

BAE decided on a global solution and passed the company on to "Carat Duchatelet Holdings" by February 26, 2008. In March 2010, Centigon was assigned to the company's third division - the Carat Security Group. In 2015 the company was sold to Dongfeng.

Locations and market position

According to its own statements, Centigon was already the world's largest manufacturer of armored vehicles and had been active in security technology for over a hundred years. The security needs of governments, corporations, non-governmental organizations and private customers are met with a comprehensive range of security solutions for civil passenger vehicles - from SUVs and stretch limousines to passenger cars and cash trucks. In eight production facilities around the world, 1,600 armored vehicles are manufactured annually and employ a total of 1,000 people. In Europe, production facilities are maintained in France ( Lamballe ), Belgium ( Liège ) and Germany.

The two plants in Germany and France alone converted 453 vehicles in 2004.

Centigon Germany

The company has been producing in Germany under the company Centigon Germany GmbH since 2002. The background to the US involvement in Germany was the sharp rise in demand for armored civil vehicles after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 . As early as 1999 the company had taken over the vehicle factory of the German "Trasco GmbH" in Osterholz-Scharmbeck .

At peak times, 320 people were employed there. The armored vehicles of Trasco were delivered to government and business leaders. On April 19, 1995, Spanish President José María Aznar survived an ETA attack in an Audi A8 converted by Trasco . As of 1998, the company was preparing corresponding Audi A8s as a company car for the then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and the vehicles of his cabinet colleagues were also equipped accordingly.

90% of the sedans produced by Trasco (50 to 80 pieces annually) went abroad - with a focus on the CIS countries and the Middle East .

After the takeover by Centigon, the German branch mainly produced off-road vehicles , which were ordered in particular by the United Nations , whose employees u. a. were deployed in Afghanistan .

After the collapse of the so-called special protection market, the production capacities in Osterholz-Scharmbeck were no longer fully utilized. The plant was given up and operations were relocated to the neighboring Hanseatic city of Bremen in the Mahndorf district in 2010. 110 employees work at the Bremen site.

Short-time working was introduced at the Bremen plant in November 2010 . In February 2011, Centigon Germany GmbH filed for insolvency. As a result of the insolvency proceedings, the company was sold and has been operating under the Trasco name again since then.

swell

  • Christoph Kober in the Weser-Kurier on August 22, 2006; No. 195; P. 17: Luxury cars become rolling fortresses
  • Weser-Kurier of November 3rd, 2010: Centigon: Banging hope for a new beginning .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mark Basch: Jacksonville, Fla.-Based Armor Company Buys Armored Car Maker . In: Florida Times-Union , April 24, 2001. Retrieved July 7, 2008.  (English)
  2. ^ Kroll-O'Gara Completes Sale of O'Gara Business to Armor Holdings . In: Business Wire , Business Wire, Inc., August 23, 2001. Retrieved July 7, 2008.  (English)
  3. ↑ Calvin Biesecker: BAE Outlines Integration Plans For Armor Holdings . In: Defense Daily International , August 3, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2008. 
  4. ^ Carat Duchatelet Holdings announces the acquisition of BAE System's Centigon International , Carat Duchatelet Holdings. February 26, 2008. Accessed July 7, 2008.  (English)
  5. ↑ Schröder's armored car: The Chancellor's AUDI A8 ( Memento from September 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on www.automobil-magazin.de
  6. ↑ Trasco: Panzer in Schafspelz Manager Magazin from October 31, 2003
  7. ↑ Special vehicle manufacturer Centigon Germany is insolvent InsolvenzRatgeber from February 23, 2011

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