Erb Group

Erb Group

Native name	Hugo Erb AG
Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	1920;105 years ago (1920) in Switzerland
Founder	Hugo Erb, Sr.
Defunct	2003 (2003)
Headquarters	Winterthur , Switzerland
Key people	Hugo Erb Rolf Erb Christian Erb
Revenue	US$6.2 billion (2003)
Number of employees	5,000 (2003)
Website	erb.ch (defunct)

Erb Group (officially Hugo Erb AG) was a Swiss conglomerate primarily active as automotive retailer. Founded in 1920, the company started as automobile repair shop in Winterthur, Switzerland, which until the 1980s became one of the key players of Switzerlands automotive industry alongside Emil Frey Group and AMAG (Importer of Audi). ^{[1] [2]}

In the 1990s, under the second generation, the concern diversified into coffee trading, real estate and kitchens. ^{[3] [4]} In 2003, the concern collapsed and had to declare bankruptcy, which ultimate became the second largest bankruptcy case in Switzerland, after Swissair in 2001. ^[5]

References

1. Zuerich, ETH-Bibliothek. "E-Periodica -". E-Periodica (in German). Retrieved 2025-08-13.
2. swissinfo.ch, S. W. I. (2003-12-05). "Winterthurer Erb-Imperium am Ende". SWI swissinfo.ch (in German). Retrieved 2025-08-13.
3. "Schwer verdauliche Volcafe?". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). 2004-03-22. ISSN   0376-6829 . Retrieved 2025-08-13.
4. https://www.tagblatt.ch/schweiz/jaehes-ende-eines-imperiums-ld.710791 ^{[ bare URL ]}
5. "Die Erb-Pleite, 2. Teil: Der Zusammenbruch". Bilanz (in German). 2005-03-22. Retrieved 2025-08-13.