Mahle GmbH
MAHLE GmbH is a German automotive parts manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide. As a manufacturer of components and systems for the combustion engine and its periphery, the company is one of the three largest systems suppliers worldwide for engine systems, filtration, electrics, mechatronics, and thermal management. In 2018, Mahle GmbH sales amounted to over €12.5 billion. , its 80,000 employees work in 160+ production plants and sixteen major research and development centers in Germany, Great Britain, United States, Brazil, Japan, China, India, Poland, Spain, Slovenia and Luxembourg. Worldwide , over 6000 development engineers and technicians work as partners for MAHLE's customers on new products and systems. History. Formation. In 1920 the engineer and pilot Hellmuth Hirth established together with others a small workshop in Cannstatt, where he developed and constructed a two-stroke engine. 26-year-old Hermann Mahle started working for Hellmuth Hirth on 1 December 1920 as the company's seventh employee. The workshop was then called ""Versuchsbau Hellmuth Hirth"". 1 December 1920 is acknowledged as the birthday of today's MAHLE Group. It soon became clear that the workshop would not survive by only conducting  engine tests. So the need arose to build a profitable line of production in order to finance ongoing engine tests. At that time, in the automobile production, pistons were generally made of cast iron. "Versuchsbau Hellmuth Hirth" decided to attempt to build light alloy pistons for combustion engines. On 1 November 1922 Hermann Mahle's brother, Ernst Mahle, joined the factory as Head of Engineering. In 1924 the company merged with Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron, the inventors of the magnesium alloy Elektron, and was renamed "Elektronmetall GmbH". In 1927, the company developed the first controlled-expansion piston in Germany and  in 1931, the world's first aluminium ring carrier piston for Diesel engines. Following this, piston technology was steadily improved. In 1938 the conversion into MAHLE KG took place and the new company logo was introduced. The company expanded, and before WW2 it was the only company in Germany manufacturing die-cast magnesium alloy products.<ref>