Petropoulos (the full name of the company is Petros Petropoulos A.E.B.E.) is today a major importer and distributor of vehicles and heavy machinery, having been, at the same time, one of the historic Greek tractor, vehicle and engine manufacturers.
Petropoulos (the full name of the company is Petros Petropoulos A.E.B.E.) is today a major importer and distributor of vehicles and heavy machinery, having been, at the same time, one of the historic Greek tractor, vehicle and engine manufacturers.
The Petropoulos family has been involved in metal constructions for generations. Konstantinos Petropoulos was a well known manufacturer of church bells and metal products in the late 19th century, based in Amfissa and, later, in Lamia. According to tradition, there was a supposed well-kept "secret" behind the sound quality of the Petropoulos bells – the bell being today the recognizable company logo.
The company in its present form was founded by Petros Petropoulos in Thessaloniki in 1922. Early activities included sales of commercial vehicles as well as rebuilding of engines and vehicle assembly. This early construction activity involved assembly of Ford (1920s) and Willys-Overland (1930s) passenger cars, and Diamond T and International trucks (1930s). The Petropoulos factory was put under German control during the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II. The company resumed business after the war, and in 1948 it moved its headquarters to Athens, where it already had created a subsidiary.
Rebuilding of engines remained a major activity until 1953, when Petropoulos greatly expanded the popularity of the diesel engine in Greece, thanks to its cooperation with British F. Perkins Limited. In 1956 Petropoulos made a bold move, investing in farm tractor production. Model Π-35 introduced in 1956, as well as the more powerful Π-55 that followed shortly, were based on International Harvester designs (powered, though, by Perkins engines). Competitively priced and robust, these tractors became immediate success stories; however, in the early 1960s the company was engaged in a legal dispute over market (competition) rules with Malkotsis, another Greek tractor manufacturer claiming a share in the fast developing tractor market, resulting in production delays that almost bankrupted the company.
The company eventually abandoned production of its own tractor series and focused on engine production and truck and tractor assembly (Petropoulos-assembled trucks and tractors were exported to Europe and the Middle East). In 1974 it engaged into its boldest project, development and production of a new "smart" 4X4 truck family (Unitrak/Polytrak/Militrak models). The trucks sold fairly well to farmers, but the Greek Army ordered only small numbers of the Militrak version. This, and a 1984 change of a law that had made "farm vehicles" economically attractive, lead to termination of production. Once more the company, after heavily investing in an industrial project, was found in a dire financial state.
Petropoulos has developed a variety of other industrial products, including power generators and forklift trucks (most notably the successful Dynalift family of Diesel- and Electric-powered forklifts). It even made an effort in 1994 to resume truck production, introducing a Swiss (Bucher) – designed vehicle as the Militrak II Duro; however again, the vehicle was not adopted by the Greek Army.
Since the late 1990s Petropoulos has decisively shifted to imports, trading and services retaining only a limited industrial activity. The company maintains a small museum within its facilities, with exhibits including a restored Π-35 tractor and a fully restored polytrak.
Hindustan Motors is an Indian automotive manufacturer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is a part of the Birla Technical Services conglomerate. The company was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog.
Biotechnia Ellinikon Trikyklon, or BET, was a small vehicle manufacturer founded in Athens by Petros Konstantinou. It was one of several manufacturers - the first appearing in the early 1940s - that converted BMW or other motorcycles into light utility three-wheelers. In 1965 it entirely designed and built a small five-seat passenger car with a BMW 125cc motorcycle engine. Although the type was certified, only one was built due to problems in availability of parts for further production. Following this design, three-wheeled truck models were developed and produced. A second passenger car model was designed and introduced in 1973, known as model 500, with a Fiat 500cc engine. With metal body, seating up to five passengers and featuring very good road handling, it was a rather advanced three-wheeler for its time. It was certified for production and 15 were built, of which one survives to this date in excellent condition. There were even talks with a South African company involving plans for exports or even transfer of production to that country, but they were never realized. The company ceased production in 1975.
MEBEA was an important Greek vehicle manufacturer, producer of light trucks, passenger automobiles, motorcycles, motorbike engines, agricultural machinery and bicycles.
BIAMAX(Proper Greek pronunciation Viamax) was a Greek vehicle manufacturer. In the late 70's it was one of the biggest Greek companies, operating three factories and several other auxiliary facilities throughout the country. In addition, BIAMAX became a leading industry in Greece, in areas including Quality Assurance, technical training, process documentation and Research & Development. Although its main activity was vehicle manufacture, some of its subsidiaries were also involved in areas like tourist services, exports of farm products and shipping.
The Sfakianakis group of companies is a Greek conglomerate with a wide range of activities, employing over 2800 in 6 countries in 2014.
STYL KAR was named after its founder, the engineer Stylianos Karakatsanis. Its entire history is representative of many Greek companies who were engaged in the construction of simple utility vehicles.
NAMCO is a Greek vehicle manufacturer. It was founded in 1972 by Kontogouris brothers.
Malkotsis was the trade name for Technica S. Malkotsis A.E., which has historically been the most important Greek engine manufacturer, surpassing several engine manufacturers that flourished in Greece in the 1920s and (mostly) 1930s, like Dimadis-Kanakis in Volos, Peteinaris in Kalamata, Sideris, BIO, and others in Athens, etc. Located in Piraeus, before World War II Malkotsis produced various types of industrial machinery. After the war it produced industrial machinery for several Greek companies, but it progressively focused almost entirely on diesel engines, soon becoming the largest company in its field. Malkotsis engines found use in a variety of industrial applications, while its boat engine models became legendary for their reliability. A series of electric motors was produced as well. Its EM Diesel series included engines specifically designed for powering of vehicles and was employed in Malkotsis's own farm tractor models introduced in 1959. The tractors were produced for only a few years, due to lack of funding and other problems related to a complete lack of state support. The company faced financial problems later, due to competition from cheaper imports, and was acquired in 1991 by Drakos-Polemis A.E., a pump manufacturing company which used all Malkotsis infrastructure for its production purposes.
Ros was the trade name of vehicles produced by the Greek company 'Stavros Konstantinides O.E.', based in Athens. The Ros three-wheeler trucks were the most successful of its kind in Greece, having been produced by the thousands. Ros surpassed in sales even "Greek classics" like Alta and Styl Kar, and the characteristic shape of its trucks could be seen for several years in every corner of the country. And for good reason: The 'Rosaki' was one of the most robust and reliable vehicles ever used in Greece. In 2006, 30 years after the end of three-wheeler production, several Ros were still in use in excellent condition, more than any other three-wheeler type.
AutoDiana was a Greek truck manufacturer based in Thessaloniki, in business between 1975 and 1984. Its main product was the 'Unicar' truck. This robust vehicle had a payload of 1500 kg and used a Mercedes-Benz Diesel engine and Dodge axles. Its fate, along with similar Greek multi-purpose trucks, such as Petropoulos Unitrak, the Agricola, the Motoemil Autofarma, the Balkania Autotractor, the Namco Agricar, was sealed when a change of Greek law in 1984 modified taxes and duties for such farm vehicles. Production was terminated the same year ending a career of reasonable sales among customers in the Greek countryside.
Balkania was the trade name of 'K. Zacharopoulos A.B.E.E.' a Greek industrial and trading company based in Athens that produced 4x4 jeep-type vehicles and 4x4 trucks. Since 1945, K. Zacharopoulos had been involved in vehicle repair and rebuilding. The Balkania company was founded in 1954 and since 1972 it imported Romanian and Indian vehicles. In 1975 it designed and introduced its own Autotractor model, a 4x4 multi-purpose truck with a Mercedes-Benz 3200 cc Diesel engine, metal cabin and a payload of 1,500 kg (3,307 lb). In 1979 the model was redesigned, with a modern synthetic cabin. It was produced, as some similar Greek vehicles, until a change of a favorable categorization for agricultural vehicles in 1984 limited its prospects. The vehicle was modestly successful, as it exhibited certain quality problems.
Motoemil was a Greek truck manufacturer based in Thessaloniki. It was named after Emilios Antoniades who started his business, together with his brother Konstantinos, by constructing crude-made trucks assembled from motorcycle and automobile parts. By the mid-1960s, like other similar Greek manufacturers, they were already developing and building complete "automobile" three-wheeler trucks. Motoemil was one of the first of its kind in Northern Greece and soon became the largest in that region, its products sold throughout the country. The first models used 1200cc Volkswagen air-cooled engines. A completely redesigned, more modern-looking model was introduced in 1970, using a German Ford engine.
Candia is a Greek company producing Agricultural machinery and equipment, based in Herakleion, Crete. It is representative of many companies in this country, that produced multi-purpose light farm vehicles.
Emporiki Autokiniton was a major Greek automobile trading and industrial company. Systematic vehicle production started in 1968, while the company built a modern vehicle assembly factory in the north of Athens in 1971. A large number of Mazda, Opel and, later, Alfa Romeo models were assembled – usually with a significant proportion of parts locally produced. The company also introduced modified versions of Mazda trucks, including longer versions of the B1500 and B1600 light trucks. A number of the latter was also produced with the company’s own Grezda brand name in the early 1980s, mostly for export. Emporiki Autokiniton was seriously affected by problems largely connected with the labor unrest of the 1980s in Greece and production was eventually terminated in 1985, after a failed attempt to produce a jeep and a 2-tonne truck type of own development.
TEMAX is a specialised manufacturer of fire and rescue vehicles, trailers and equipment based in Athens, Greece. Temax also manufactures snow-clearing equipment.
Tropical is a Greek manufacturer involved in machinery and vehicle development and production. Its history is characteristic of a company which has made significant efforts to evolve in a country that effectively forbids production of locally developed passenger cars.
Record A.E.B.E. was the name of a Greek company producing agricultural machinery and vehicles, founded in Heraklion, Crete in 1957 and dissolved in 1999. Its products have included walking tractors, a family of characteristic Greek three-wheel vehicles combining truck and tractor functions, "proper" tractors and four-wheel trucks ; mechanical equipment like clutches and gearboxes for use in its vehicles were also produced. Its main market was Greece, although some of its walking tractors were also exported. Annual vehicle production in the late 1970s and early 1980s averaged 500 units.
Diana (Διάνα) is the brand name for agricultural machinery produced by Irene Chrissadakou A.E. a company located in Tavros (Athens), Greece. Founded in 1976, it is one of the most successful light tractor manufacturers in Greece, also managing to survive the crisis in Greek manufacturing industry of the 1980s and 1990s.
Perkins Engines Company Limited, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc since 1998, is primarily a diesel engine manufacturer for several markets including agricultural, construction, material handling, power generation, and industrial. It was established in Peterborough, England in 1932. Over the years Perkins has expanded its engine catalogue, producing thousands of different engine specifications including diesel and petrol engines.
Biomot was a small manufacturer of three-wheeled trucks and other metal products, based in Patras, Greece. Its trucks, produced since 1967, originally used rear-mounted VW air-cooled engines, as well as other VW parts. By 1975 the market for these vehicles had shrunk in Greece, being replaced by four-wheeled imported types. A new “modernized” front-engined model introduced by Biomot failed to save the company.
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