During the year 1949, the Liebherr family business was established by Hans Liebherr. His first claim to fame was the success of his affordable and easy-to-assemble mobile tower crane. It was upon this creation that the company's foundation flourished under. These days, Liebherr has grown to become amongst the world's leading manufacturers of construction machines. The business has also earned the reputation of being the acknowledged provider of technically innovative user-oriented products and services in various fields. The business has currently become a "Group" working in each and every continent with over 35,000 workers and over 130 companies across the world.
In order to ensure a manageable operating size, the Liebherr Group has been divided into different company units. These units have been designed to operate independently. This particular set up allows the business the ability to stay in tune with global competition and be flexible to market signals. In addition, having so many individual company units additionally keeps customer service running at an optimum level and ensures customer proximity.
The divisional control companies deal with the operative management of the sales companies and the production for the individual product segments. The Liebherr Group now has 10 different product divisions.
Liebherr-International AG is the holding company of the Liebherr Group. They are located within Bulle, Switzerland and are completely owned by the Liebherr family members. At present, the family business is being managed by Dr. H.C. Isolde Liebherr and her brother Dr. H.C. Willi Liebherr in the 2nd generation. Since 2012, some of the active individual divisions have been represented by members of the family in the 3rd generation such as: Patricia Ruf, Stefanie Wohlfarth, Jan Liebherr and Sophie Albrecht. These family members have been working hard together to be able to help set up the course of the family business in the future. They are staying on top of residential buildings and large-scale industrial projects all around the globe.
Hans Liebherr started this quest during the year 1949, with his first business within the small South-German town of Kirchdorf/Iller. Nowadays, Kirchdorf is among more than 20 major manufacturing sites of the Liebherr Group. They employ more than 1400 people in that particular workforce and can average an annual output of about 2800 wheeled excavators. The company has enjoyed diversity and immense growth ever since it initially opened its doors. The Liebherr Group continues to remain devoted to implementing and making innovative designs. They have earned a successful and positive place within the material handling business.