During 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. Nowadays, The Liebherr business has grown to become amongst the world's leading manufacturers of construction equipment. The company has also earned the reputation of being the accredited supplier of technically innovative user-oriented services and products in various fields. The company has presently become a "Group" working in each and every continent with over 35,000 employees and over 130 companies all around the globe.
The Liebherr Group has been divided into different company units so as to ensure a manageable operating size. These individual units operate independently. This particular set up allows the company the ability to be flexible to market signals and stay in tune with global competition. As well, having so many individual company units also ensures customer proximity and keeps customer service running at an optimum level.
The divisional control companies handle the operative management of the sales companies and the production for the individual product segments. The Liebherr Group currently has ten various product divisions.
Liebherr-International AG is the Liebherr Group's holding company. They are situated within Bulle, Switzerland and are completely owned by members of the Liebherr family. Presently, the family business is being managed by Dr. H.C. Willi Liebherr and his sister Dr. H.C. Isolde Liebherr in the second generation. Ever since the year 2012, some of the active individual divisions have been represented by members of the family in the third generation such as: Jan Liebherr, Sophie Albrecht, Patricia Ruf and Stefanie Wohlfarth. These family members have been working together to help set up the family business' course in the future. They are staying on top of large-scale industrial projects and residential buildings all over the world.
Hans Liebherr began this quest in the year 1949, with his first business in the tiny South-German town of Kirchdorf/Iller. Nowadays, Kirchdorf is amongst over 20 major manufacturing sites of the Liebherr Group. They employ over 1400 individuals in that particular workforce and could average a yearly output of about 2800 wheeled excavators. The company has enjoyed immense growth and diversity ever since it initially started. The Liebherr Group continues to remain devoted to implementing and making innovative designs. They have earned a successful and positive place in the material handling business.