article is disputed . please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met . august 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message k gel trailer gmbh & co.kg type gmbh & co. kg industry vehicle manufacture founded 1934 headquarters burtenbach germany revenue 440 million eur 2008 number of employees approx . 400 2010 website www.koegel.com k gel trailer gmbh & co.kg with its headquarters in gersthofen was founded originally in 1934 by franz xaver k gel and they are one of the largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles amongst other things for trailers and semi trailers . contents 1 history 1.1 1934 1940 the beginnings 1.2 1950 1960 the upwards development 1.3 1961 1991 the purchases 1.4 1991 2009 k gel fahrzeugwerke ag i k gel fahrzeugwerke gmbh 1.5 since 2009 k gel trailer gmbh & co. kg 1.6 k gel re invents itself 2 sources 3 references 4 external links 5 see also history edit 1934 1940 the beginnings edit on 1 may 1934 franz xaver k gel took over the wagon making business of his apprenticeship employer in neu ulm . franz xaver k gel learned his trade in this small business and had just taken his masters examination . motorised transport of goods had just taken off with the autobahns in 1934 thus f. x. k gel with his wagon making business located within easy reach of the forge for chassis and trailer manufacture owned by august welte was able to begin a forward looking collaboration . k gel provided the floors for the chassis and the side walls and both companies needed to expand their businesses . 1950 1960 the upwards development edit the fusion of both tradesmen s businesses in 1956 in donautal made k gel one of the first businesses to settle in the new industrial area . the transition from a tradesmen s business to an industrial concern was completed when production started in the new generously dimensioned manufacturing workshops in the donautal industrial area . industrial production of trailers and bodies had begun and continuous growth was achieved . however special projects were also handled in addition to this manufacture e.g. a 9 seater cab for the 70 kw kaelbletractor . 1961 1991 the purchases edit in 1968 k gel purchased additional production facilities in karlsdorf near bruchsal kamag and in 1973 they purchased the faka kannenberg vehicle manufacturer in b ckeburg near hanover . after the fall of communism they added the werdau factory in saxony and in 1993 k gel also took over the defunct trailer manufacture of the k ssbohrer vehicle works in burtenbach . a part share in the commercial vehicle manufacturer orlican in 1991 in the czech republic was converted by k gel into a take over at a later date and they were made into a sub supplier until the foundation of k gel a.s. in 1996 in the czech republic . kamag a subsidiary of k gel also in ulm since 1969 is concerned with the manufacture of heavy duty self driven combinations having payloads up to 10 000 t and their customers also include nasa . in addition two joint ventures were founded in the people s republic of china . 1991 2009 k gel fahrzeugwerke ag i k gel fahrzeugwerke gmbh edit as the first and only company in the trailer and body industry k gel founded a limited company in 1991 . in 2000 25 million of investment was made in the factory in burtenbach . the factory in burtenbach became with considerable investment the most modern trailer factory in europe . the k gel fahrzeugwerke ag in ulm applied for the opening of insolvency proceedings in january 2004 . this affected 1 186 employees . in 2004 this resulted in the take over by trailer holding gmbh in munich with the founding of k gel fahrzeugwerke gmbh and the new company headquarters was in burtenbach . k gel is one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in europe and its basic product the semi trailer offers the largest selection and flexibility in the commercial vehicle market . in 2006 the company produced around 12 000 vehicles of which more than two thirds were supplied to other european countries . the around 1 000 employees at home and abroad were able to achieve a turnover of more than 275 million euro . in 2006 k gel introduced the brands k gel maxx k gel foxx and k gel phoenixx . the k gel brand took over the function of an umbrella brand . while the k gel maxx brand covers the previous product range and is marketed as the main brand with qualified sales and individual consultation the k gel foxx brand became the first commercial vehicle brand to be marketed exclusively via the internet . the k gel phoenixx brand is used for the introduction of innovative products such as the first flatbed semi trailer made from glass fibre reinforced plastic grp . the k gel big maxx which since 2010 has been called the k gel euro trailer was introduced by k gel in 2005 as their contribution to dealing with future transport volumes . the k gel euro trailer is a semi trailer which has been extended in length by 1.3 metres and consequently can carry an additional 3 euro pallets . since the end of 2005 300 of these vehicles have been in use with special permits throughout germany in special forwarding companies . an assessment by prof. henning wallentowitzdes from the ika in aachen attested to the extended trailer s excellent suitability for use in practice . for the final approval of this trailer a change to the length of trucks in europe will be required . an unexpected collapse in turnover caused k gel to reduce its production capacity and 120 contract workers and 81 employees on a limited contract were made redundant in july 2008 . after the redundancies k gel still employs around 1 360 people domestically and abroad . since 2009 k gel trailer gmbh & co. kg edit even though k gel was chosen as the turnarounder of the year and the best trailer brand in 2008 the company experienced in the same way as the entire trailer sector a collapse in demand of up to 90 % following the financial crisis in september 2008 . after producing around 24 000 trailers annually up to the middle of 2008 k gel estimated a demand of just around 2 000 trailers in 2009 . on the 3rd of august 2009 k gel fahrzeugwerke gmbh in burtenbach was forced to apply for insolvency . the insolvency proceedings were opened on the 30th of october 2009 . at the end of 2009 k gel was taken over by its competitor humbaur in gersthofen which operates a two market strategy and thus can ensure the independence of the k gel brand which is managed as the re founded k gel trailer gmbh & co.kg . after intensive negotiations the entrepreneur ulrich humbaur whose roots are in the augsburg region as the new owner of k gel agreed with the previous owners that the properties should be sold in their entirety to humbaur . this ensures that burtenbach will remain as the production facility for k gel in the long term 1 . this means that the two production facilities in burtenbach and chocen cz are in the sole possession of ulrich humbaur . k gel re invents itself edit at the iaa in september 2010 k gel presented their new vehicles for the forwarding and construction industries on the largest stand of all the trailer manufacturers . they exhibited the container chassis port 40 multiplex a sliding chassis vehicle . they also showed the euro trailer cool which offers forwarding companies in the refrigerated transport sector the advantage of a refrigerated body extended by 1.3 m. k gel offers the optimum trailer for every application with its 2nd generation of the cargo platform trailer . in addition they showed a trailer variant as a volume trailer the k gel mega centre axle trailer which is new at k gel . from the refrigerated vehicle range they presented the revised and extended k gel cool rail for rail transport . in the construction sector where the brand was once present k gel now offers the flatbed trailer as a turntable trailer or semi variant . a total of 1 000 orders prove that the products from the traditional brand from southern germany continue to be in demand . 2 the new start is visible at k gel . the graphic image of the brand has been revised and developed . there have also been innovations on the home page and in the brand slogan . since the end of september 2010 there has been a completely revised k gel website www.koegel.com . here you can find information about the company and the new product naming system and all the product innovations at k gel under the slogan simply more . sources edit magazine lastwagen omnibus . .100 jahre lkw page 127 auto reporter.net dated 28 january 2004 references edit external links edit website of k gel trailer gmbh & co.kg see also edit retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title k gel trailer & oldid 732332284 categories vehicle manufacturing companiescompanies based in bavariahidden categories npov disputes from august 2011all npov disputespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages deutscheestipolski sloven ina edit links this page was last modified on 31 july 2016 at 07 03 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view