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, Liebherr has grown to become among the world's leading manufacturers of construction equipment. The company has also gained the reputation of being the accredited provider of user-oriented technically innovative services and products in different fields. The company has now become a "Group" working in every continent with more than 130 companies and over 35,000 employees all around the world.
To be able 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 set up enables the business the ability to stay in tune with global competition and be flexible to market signals. Furthermore, having so many individual company units also keeps customer service operating at an optimum level and ensures customer proximity.
Liebherr has instituted the divisional control companies to deal with the management operations of production and sales for the individual product segments. The Liebherr Group now has ten various product divisions.
Liebherr Group's holding company is Liebherr-International AG. Liebherr-International AG is located within Bulle, Switzerland and is operating by the Liebherr family members. Now, the family business is being managed in the second generation by Dr. H.C. Isolde Liebherr and her brother Dr. H.C. Willi Liebherr. Since 2012, some of the active individual divisions have been represented by 3rd generation family members like: Sophie Albrecht, Jan Liebherr, Stefanie Wohlfarth and Patricia Ruf. These members of the family 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 large-scale industrial projects and residential buildings all over the globe.
Hans Liebherr began this quest in 1949, with his first company within the tiny South-German town of Kirchdorf/Iller. Today, Kirchdorf is amongst over 20 major manufacturing sites of the Liebherr Group. They can average a yearly output of approximately 2800 wheeled excavators and employ more than 1400 people in that particular workforce. The company has enjoyed diversity and immense growth since it initially opened its doors. The Liebherr Group continues to remain devoted to implementing and engineering innovative designs. They have earned a positive and successful place in the material handling business.