Hella

Hella was the first company to get approval for the manufacture of halogen headlamps. It was also a pioneer in the development of Xenon and Bi-Xenon headlamps. By 1984, it had over 1 million deutschmarks in annual sales. Today, the company covers over 70 different locations spaced out in over 30 countries. It provides electronics, lighting, aftermarket, and special products in the automotive industry.

The company was first started in 1899 and was initially known as Westfalische Metall-Industrie Aktien-Gesellschaft (WMI). It specialized in the production of candles, kerosene lamps, and ball horns for carriages. It was not until 1908 that the company changed its name to “Hella” and started to manufacture acetylene headlights.

It expanded quickly after the Ludenscheider Hueck family took over most of the shares from the founder, Sally Windmuller. However, its workforce fell sharply after the Word War 2 by more than 95%. Today, Hella employs more than 28,000 people across the globe. Its main function is to produce electronic and lighting automotive systems. It has grown rapidly to join the 50 largest global automotive suppliers. Between 2011 and 2012, it had 4.8 billion euros in sales, making it one of the largest companies in Germany.

Currently, Hella provides headlights, fog lights, signaling lights, parking lights, reverse lights, door lights, auxiliary indicator lights, license plate lights, brake lights, and many more lighting solutions for vehicles. The company’s special applications divisions develops lighting options for emergency services, boat builders, construction machinery producers, and other specific target groups.

There are also other subsidiaries that offer solutions for climate control systems, marine lighting, and engine cooling. The company has worked extra hard to continuously scale the ranks when it comes to developing electronic and lighting solutions for various industries. Its network of multiple subsidiaries make it one of the largest automotive suppliers we have today.