Liebherr Mobile and Crawler Crane Operation Celebrates 50th Anniversary

On February 22, 1969, Hans Liebherr founded Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH in Ehingen, Germany. Today, customers utilize the company's mobile and crawler cranes worldwide in numerous industries. Within the Liebherr Group, Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH operates as a divisional controlling company for mobile cranes.

The approximately 3,600 employees in the company produce around 1,800 machines every year. The current product range includes 40 different crane types, which were developed by the roughly 300 engineers. The cranes manufactured in Ehingen can be roughly divided into two product lines: wheeled mobile cranes, which include all-terrain mobile cranes, compact cranes, truck-mounted cranes and rough-terrain cranes, and crawler cranes with lattice jibs or telescopic booms. The most powerful crawler crane - at 240 meters high and with a capacity to lift loads up to 3,000 tonnes - towers over the famous Ulm Minster church located a stone’s throw away from Ehingen. 

A best seller in the years following the setup of Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH, the AUK 40T-60 truck crane boasted a maximum 30-tonne lifting capacity.Liebherr GroupThe beginnings of the mobile crane specialists in the Upper Swabian city on the Danube were modest. The first AUK 40T-60 truck crane was produced in 1969 with 87 employees; it had a 24-meter long telescopic boom and a maximum lifting capacity of 30 tonnes. The company sold a total of 79 machines between 1969 and 1972, making the AUK 40T-60 the best seller of the founding years.

With around 2,500 deliveries, toda,y the Liebherr telescopic mobile crane LTM 1030-2.1 is the top-selling model from Ehingen. The two-axle variant provides high functionality and reliability, and was the first mobile crane with data bus transmission technology at the time of its market introduction.    

Reliability has proven to be a primary strength of the products produced at Ehingen. "Ninety percent of all cranes ever built by us are still in use after decades," says Christoph Kleiner, Managing Director Sales of Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH. This is due to the high product quality and standards in customer services. Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH is currently expanding the customer services area. The company already operates over 80 of its own service centers in more than 40 countries, and can deliver 95% of all spare parts worldwide within 24 hours.

The company also views its employees as the driving force behind its success. "Fifty years of Liebherr in Ehingen are first and foremost 50 years of the commitment, willingness to perform and loyalty of our staff," says Mario Trunzer, Managing Director Administration. "Without their dedication and their ideas we would not have been able to develop so successfully. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the staff."

In July 2019, the employees of Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH will celebrate their 50-year anniversary together on the company premises.