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KeyVisual 125 Years HELLA

125 years of innovative spirit:
celebrate with us!

 

We have been shaping and transforming the automotive industry since 1899. From our early days as a lamp manufacturer to our current position as a friend of the independent workshop and partner to the wholesale trade, we have been transferring our OE expertise and diagnostic know-how to the independent aftermarket.

Together with you, we would now like to look back on 125 electrifying and enlightening years full of technical innovations and novelties.


Personal views on our anniversary:
interviews with the heads of HELLA Aftermarket

Stefan van Dalen
Member of the Management Board | Business Group Lifecycle Solutions

As a member of the Management Board and Head of Business Group Lifecylce Solutions, Stefan van Dalen talks about our long-standing cooperation with wholesalers and workshops as well as future innovations that we are already striving for today.

Marcel Wiedmann
Head of Independent Aftermarket and Workshop Solutions

Marcel Wiedmann has been Head of the global spare parts and workshop business at HELLA since 1 January 2024. He talks about his exciting career, which has taken him to China for several years, among other places.

Adnan Cemal
Chief Executive Officer | Hella Gutmann

As Managing Director at Hella Gutmann, Adnan Cemal talks about the successful partnership with HELLA and looks back on the most outstanding milestones in our shared history.


Congratulations to HELLA:
125 years of history from the perspective of our customers and partners.

Eyal Zbeda

Writing the success story:
As partner of the wholesaler and
the workshop’s friend

Lines connecting the epochs
electric spotlight
From the founding of a lamp factory to the first electric spotlight
1899 to 1924
Founding Westfälische Metall-Industrie Aktien-Gesellschaft
1899

Founding of the „Westfälische Metall-Industrie Aktien-Gesellschaft“ in Lippstadt

Candles- and paraffin lamps
1899

Candles- and paraffin lamps and bulb horns (cornets) as product range

acetylene gas headlamps
1908

Brand name „HELLA“ for acetylene gas headlamps

electrical generator
1915

First electrical generator / first red tail lights & yellow brake lights

symmetrical light
1924

Dipped and main beam as symmetrical light from one headlamp

Lines connecting the epochs
VW Bus

From the expansion of the product portfolio to large-scale industrial operation

1925 to 1957
curve headlamps
1930

HELLA develops fog lamps or so-called “curve headlamps”

VW Beetle
1935

HELLA supplies headlamps for VW Beetle prototype

HELLA Bus
1953

Increase the pace of domestic sales over advertising activities

Illuminated road (asymmetric light distribution)
1957

First type approval granted for a headlamp with asymmetric light distribution

Lines connecting the epochs
electronic flasher
From expansion to the other side of the world to the electronic age
1958 to 1971
HELLA Australia Pty Ltd
1961

“HELLA Australia Pty Ltd” is the first factory abroad

auxiliary lamp with halogen bulb
1962

HELLA introduces the first auxiliary lamp to use a halogen bulb onto the market

electronic flasher
1965

The first electronic flasher unit sees the start of the electronic era in vehicles

Illuminated road (H4)
1971

HELLA is the first manufacturer to receive approval for an H4 main headlamp

Lines connecting the epochs
AudiTT

From the first high-tech products to a global automotive supplier

1972 to 1997
interior temperature regulator system
1984

Electronically controlled interior temperature regulator system from HELLA

free-form reflector
1988

HELLA presents the free-form reflector which significantly improves the utilization of the luminous flux

Illuminated road (Xenon)
1992

The first generation of xenon headlamps goes into series production

Light distribution Bi-xenon headlamps
1997

Bi-xenon headlamps are presented in prototype vehicles for the first time

Lines connecting the epochs
front camera

From the first headlamp system to LED technology

1998 to 2010
headlamp system using light guide technology (Volvo)
2001

The first presentation of a headlamp system using light guide technology can be seen in the VOLVO SCC Concept Car

cornering & dynamic bend lights
2003

HELLA is the first company to produce cornering & dynamic bend lights in series

front camera with traffic sign recognition
2007

The first front camera with traffic sign recognition

Audi A8 LED headlamp
2010

First full LED headlamps with AFS functions for the Audi A8

Lines connecting the epochs
HELLA TECH WORLD
From digital workshop portals to innovative radar systems
2011 to 2017
Relaunch HELLA TECH WORLD
2012

HELLA presents new workshop portal HELLA TECH WORLD

LED low beam
2013

First vehicle with 100% LED low beam headlamps and optional camera based full-LED headlamp with glare-free high beam

Matrix LED technology
2014

Debut of Matrix LED technology

24 GHz radar sensor
2016

Ten-millionth 24 GHz radar sensor manufactured

Graphic Multibeam LED
2016

Presentation of MULTIBEAM LED headlamp, a development in partnership between Daimler AG and the light and electronics expert HELLA

HELLA and ZF Signing
2017

HELLA and ZF agree on strategic cooperation for sensor technology and radar systems

The Workshops Friend Logo
2017

The Workshop’s Friend starts. HELLA focusses and optimizes its processes and services on the independent aftermarket

Lines connecting the epochs
Workshop services

From strategic repositioning to the seventh-largest automotive supplier

2018 to 2024
Faurecia and HELLA Signing
2018

Strategic collaboration with Faurecia

Packaging Bulbs
2019

HELLA revises its range of bulbs

full LED auxiliary headlamps
2019

HELLA launches new full LED auxiliary headlamps for trucks on the market

mega macs X
2020

Vehicle diagnostics with the mega macs X from Hella Gutmann

low-voltage battery management system
2021

HELLA expands product range for electromobility and launches low-voltage battery management system on the market

Modular Lightbar
2021

HELLA introduces new Modular Lightbar to the market for municipal vehicles

HELLA Black Magic LED series
2022

HELLA Black Magic LED series: Auxiliary lights now also available on the European market

Logo Faurecia
2022

Faurecia is new majority shareholder of HELLA

Logo Forvia
2022

Faurecia and HELLA announce the name of the world’s seventh largest automotive supplier: FORVIA

Mega Macs
2022

High-voltage battery diagnostics with the mega macs from Hella Gutmann

Packaging exhaust
2022

HELLA Aftermarket: Wholesalers and workshops benefit from pooling of expertise with Faurecia Service in the field of exhaust systems

Repair Service
2022

Repair service at the touch of a button: HELLA TECH WORLD with expanded scope

HELLA Black Magic
2023

HELLA expands Black Magic auxiliary headlamp series with 32 new lightbars

professional High Voltage Battery Diagnostics
2023

Market launch for professional High Voltage Battery Diagnostics in Automotive Workshops

Valuefit Blade
2023

HELLA ValueFit BLADE: new LED auxiliary headlamp series for trucks and off-road applications

Lightbox-Element