In 1949, the Liebherr family business was created 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 foundation of the company flourished under. Nowadays, Liebherr has grown to become among the world's leading manufacturers of construction machinery. The business has also earned the reputation of being the accredited supplier of technically innovative user-oriented products and services in different fields. The company has presently become a "Group" working in every continent with over 35,000 employees and more than 130 companies all around the world.
The Liebherr Group has been divided into various company units so as to guarantee a manageable operating size. These individual units operate independently. This particular set up allows the business the ability to stay in tune with worldwide competition and be flexible to market signals. Furthermore, having so many individual company units additionally ensures customer proximity and keeps customer service operating at an optimum level.
Liebherr has instituted the divisional control companies to deal with the management operations of sales and production for the individual product segments. The Liebherr Group presently has 10 different product divisions.
The holding company of the Liebherr Group is Liebherr-International AG. Liebherr-International AG is situated within Bulle, Switzerland and is operating by members of the Liebherr family. Presently, the family business is being managed in the 2nd generation by Dr. H.C. Willi Liebherr and his sister Dr. H.C. Isolde Liebherr. Since the year 2012, some of the active individual divisions have been represented by 3rd generation family members like: Jan Liebherr, Sophie Albrecht, Stefanie Wohlfarth and Patricia Ruf. These members of the family have been working together to help set up the family business' course in the future. They are staying on top of residential buildings and large-scale industrial projects across the globe.
Hans Liebherr began this quest in 1949, with his first business in the small South-German town of Kirchdorf/Iller. Today, Kirchdorf is one of over 20 major manufacturing sites of the Liebherr Group. They are able to average an annual output of approximately 2800 wheeled excavators and employ more than 1400 people in that specific workforce. The company has enjoyed diversity and immense growth since it first started. The Liebherr Group continues to remain dedicated to making and implementing innovative designs. They have earned a positive and successful place in the material handling business.