Dethleffs
| Dethleffs GmbH & Co. KG
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH & Co. KG |
| founding | 1832 |
| Seat | Isny im Allgäu , Germany |
| management | Thomas Bischofberger, Alexander Leopold, Günther Wank |
| Number of employees | over 1,000 |
| sales | no information |
| Branch | Motor vehicle manufacturer |
| Website | www.dethleffs.de |
| As of August 31, 2018 | |
Dethleffs is a German manufacturer of motorhomes and caravans based in Isny im Allgäu . Dethleffs is a brand of the Erwin-Hymer-Group.
history
With the invention of the first caravan in Germany - which he called the " Wohnauto " at the time - company founder Arist Dethleffs laid an important foundation stone for caravanning in Germany in 1931. The company was founded in 1832 as Dethleffs KG . The purpose of the company at that time was still the manufacture and sale of whips . In 1923 a ski pole factory was added. The sole focus on the caravan sector took place in 1958 with the discontinuation of whip production due to the sustained high demand for caravans.
About a hundred years after the company was founded, the then owner Arist Dethleffs did not want to do without the company of his wife Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann and daughter Ursula Dethleffs during his long business trips . Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann was a German portrait, flower and landscape painter whose art was also exhibited in New York's Guggenheim Museum. In 1931 he designed the first caravan for them, the so-called “Wohnauto”, which was also to serve as a studio. The maiden voyage took place a year later in 1932.
As early as 1932 he built caravans to order in Isny. The first customer models were called “Tourist” in 1934. In 1936 the company had six permanent employees who only took care of the caravan production. During the Second World War , caravan construction was restricted and medical sleds were built, and a caravan series for the German Africa Corps was produced in 1941. Immediately after the end of the war in 1945, the factory served the French as a camp for prisoners of war. Production was resumed in 1948. 1952 began the first series production of the first "Camper ® ". Seven years later, Dethleffs had the brand name protected, which had become a generic term for caravans and sometimes also for mobile homes. A standard camper then cost 1,950 marks. The better equipped export version 2,490 marks.
In 1958 whip production was given up in favor of the strong demand for caravans. In 1966, 60 employees were building Dethleffs caravans in continuous production.
In 1973 the construction of the new plant began at the current location with a production area of 12,000 square meters, one year later Dethleffs employed 235 people and was one of the ten largest German caravan manufacturers. In 1976 the annual production was 4,700 caravans.
Production of mobile homes
Dethleffs presented the first recreational vehicle of the type of a mobile home ready for series production in 1977 on a Mercedes-Benz chassis. Because of the high price of 69,900 marks, the vehicle was only of interest to a small group of buyers.
Another attempt to build cheaper motorhomes began in 1983 when Erwin Hymer took over the company . The "Dethleffs Pirat" and "Globetrotter" motorhome models were initially built on the base vehicles Ford Transit (Pirat F) and Fiat Ducato (Pirat D). Thanks to the lower purchase price of the basic vehicles, an entry price of 39,900 marks was possible for the first time, which opened up a wider market. In addition to the basic vehicles Mercedes-Benz, Ford Transit and Fiat Ducato, other basic vehicles such as the Mitsubishi L300 , the VW LT 40 and in 2004 the Renault Master were added. During the entire production years, however, the base vehicles Fiat Ducato and IVECO Daily increasingly established themselves as the basis of motorhome construction, which also had an impact on the production lines at Dethleffs, with the proportion of base vehicles of the Fiat Ducato type increasing steadily. In 1992 the production area was expanded by 6,300 square meters. In 2001 a new production hall, a paint shop and a new gate were built. In the 75th anniversary year of the caravan, Dethleffs had more than 850 employees, produced 7,150 mobile homes and 5,950 caravans per year and generated over 275 million euros. In 2011, the 80,000 motorhome rolled off the production line in Isny and was auctioned off for a social cause. Seven years later a new factory hall with 11,000 square meters of production area was built, increasing the total area of the plant to 283,000 square meters. Vehicles of the categories Camper Vans and Urban Vehicles are mainly manufactured in the new hall. A Camper Van competence center is also located there, from which the entire know-how of the Erwin Hymer Group is controlled. The Dethleffs Academy with the training and LEAN training center is located on a second level with around 5,000 square meters (stage).
Company sale
In 1971 the company was sold to Wolfgang Thrun and Jakob Eicker (TEC). In 1980 the entrepreneurs Wolfgang Thrun and Jakob Eicker founded the CMC together with Erwin Hymer , into which the brands Dethleffs, Eriba, Hymer and TEC were incorporated. In 1983 Hymer acquired the sole rights to the CMC Group, which also integrated the Dethleffs brand into the Hymer Group . Arist Dethleffs died on February 14, 1996 at the age of 88. In 1998 the accessories department was spun off and merged with the Hymer accessories department to form Movera GmbH .
In 2019, Dethleffs GmbH & Co. KG, as part of the Erwin Hymer Group (EHG), was taken over by Thor Industries Inc.
Production facilities
- Isny close to the city center until 1973
- Isny on the outskirts (Rangenbergwerg) from 1973, 12,000 m² production area
- Isny (Rangenbergweg) New construction of the assembly hall with 6,200 m²
- Isny (Rangenbergweg) New construction and reconstruction of the production halls in 2001
- The factory site in Isny currently has over 280,000 m² and the street has been renamed "Arist-Dethleffs-Straße".
- A new 11,000 m² factory hall will be built on the factory premises in Arist-Dethleffs-Straße in 2018. In addition to another production facility with two production lines, it also houses the Erwin Hymer Group's "Camper Vans" competence center, a training center and a visitor forum.
Awards
- 2020: Caravan of the year: 1st place c´go, 2nd place Dethleffs Camper
- 2020: Motorhome of the year: 1st place Alpa, 2nd place Globebus T, 1st place Trend A
- 2020: König-Kunde-Award a total of 20 certificates
- Goldenes Reisemobil 2019: A total of 4 awards, including two 1st places for the Alpa series
- In 2019, the company was awarded the German Fairness Prize for the third time in a row
- At the Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf, Dethleffs presented the first fully electric motorhome study, which, like the lightweight “Caravan Coco”, received the “European Innovation Award”.
- German Camping Prize 2017 for the non-profit Dethleffs Family Foundation - Deutscher Campingclub eV, founded in 2004
- Several 1st places in the selection of Motorhome and Caravan of the Year 2017 in various categories - trade magazines Promobil and Caravaning
- Goldenes Reisemobil 2016 - Autobild Reisemobil
- Seal of approval 2016 for LifetimePlus body construction - The motorhome operator
- Two 1st places and two special prizes at the “King Customer” Award 2016 - trade magazines Reisemobil International and Camping, Cars and Caravans
- Overall winner "The perfect motorhome 2016" - Der Reisemobilist
- "Golden Steering Wheel" in the Motorhome category 2007 - trade journal Autobild / Bild am Sonntag
Coordinates: 47 ° 42 ′ 5 ″ N , 10 ° 3 ′ 15.6 ″ E
Web links
- Company website
- Historical overview with price lists and floor plans of the Pirat (F / D) and Globetrotter (BM, SF, SD, BD, VD, RD, SV) models from 1983 to 1985