A Success Story: 90 Years AL-KO VT
90 years ago, on 11 November 1931, master locksmith Alois Kober took over a small locksmith’s shop in Kötz. That was the founding moment of the AL-KO VT Group! Since then, a lot has happened: What started as a small village smithy has, by 2021, become synonymous with high-quality chassis and running gear components for trailers, recreational vehicles and commercial vehicles.
The company anniversary is a good opportunity to look back, take stock, and look forward to the future.
The Founding Era
From Germany to the world
The story of the AL-KO VT Group began with the takeover of the locksmith's shop in Kötz. Thanks to the ingenuity of Alois Kober, the village smithy was able to keep running during the war years and developed into a small industrial business in the 1950s.
His son Herbert had the idea of combining loose handbrake levers and loose gear rings, saving a great deal of installation time. The idea caught on quickly, enabling the company to win its first orders. Building on the success of the handbrake lever, the overrun brake followed, making AL-KO the first company nationwide to offer a tested and certified brake of this kind.
In line with the motto “Quality for Life,” the following decades saw the development of numerous products and solutions, leading to steady growth for the family business.
The first foreign subsidiary was founded in Austria in 1961, with further branches in England, France, Italy, and Switzerland opening in 1970. In the mid-1980s, transatlantic branches followed in the USA (1983) and Australia (1986).
Safety and Comfort
Entry into the caravan business
The entry into the caravan business followed in the 1970s. With the Rückmatic, an overrun brake was developed that enabled reversing without the need to get out and block the wheels.
In 1985, the company achieved a major breakthrough with an innovative chassis for the Fiat Ducato. This chassis, the ancestor of today's AMC chassis, offers more space in the vehicle and improved stability on the road.
By the 1990s, the range already included many products that remain important today—among them safety cable winches, jockey wheels, or the best-known AKS 3004. The stabiliser coupling allows for safe and comfortable transport and travel, reducing snaking and pitching movements of the combination.
Since the 2000s, AL-KO has made caravanning safer with an electronic stabilisation system, the ATC Trailer Control. The sensor installed detects the onset of any swaying and immediately sends a minimal braking impulse to the caravan. Even dangerous evasive manoeuvres can be managed safely thanks to ATC.
Major Turning Point
The beginning of DexKo
A major turning point occurred at the end of 2015. The vehicle technology division was spun off from the family business and merged with Dexter Axle.
AL-KO VT has since become an independent brand and is now a broadly positioned global player with sales exceeding USD 1 billion. Under the DexKo Global group umbrella, the 15 international brands AL-KO, Aguti, Bankside Patterson, Bradley, Brink, CBE, cmtrailer parts, E&P Hydraulics, G&S Chassis, Hume, Nordelettronica, Preston Chassis, SAFIM, SAWIKO, and Winterhoff, and more than 3,800 committed staff operate worldwide.
We look forward to the next 90 years of AL-KO VT!
You can find the press release for the 90th anniversary here.
