![]() | This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources .(August 2019) |
Industry | Automobile |
---|---|
Predecessor | Biamax (since 1998) |
Founded | 1956 |
Defunct | 2012 |
Fate | stopped vehicle production in 2012, with a 41% stake sold to Vianex S.A. |
Products | Buses, armored vehicles |
Number of employees | 2,800 |
SfakianakisGroup is a Greek company that primarily focuses on the import, distribution, and trading of automobiles, trucks, and buses employing over 2800 in 6 countries in 2014.. The company has been in operation for several decades and has established itself as a prominent player in the Greek automotive market. It is known for representing and distributing various international brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Setra, and other well-known manufacturers.
Additionally, Sfakianakis Group is involved in the provision of after-sales services, spare parts, and accessories for the vehicles they distribute. They have an extensive network of dealerships and service centers throughout Greece to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain their strong market presence.
The company's origins were based on vehicle manufacture. Originally called Büssing Hellas (after the German manufacturer whose engines it used) it was founded in 1957 succeeding earlier trading companies founded by the same family. Initially building bodies on imported chassis, it soon developed its own chassis family (originally based on a German MAN model, the latter having acquired Büssing). The company's SS500 chassis ('SS' standing for 'Stratis Sfakianakis') was subsequently further developed, and a great variety of bus types was designed and built over it in the following years in the company's factory near Elefsina, with exports to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Other industrial activities included construction of truck bodies and Japanese Hino chassis assembly. The company was renamed Sfakianakis S.A. in 1993 and among the last types it designed and produced were the SS400 and SS380 minibuses and a new series of SS500 inter-city and coach variants. [1]
The Sfakianakis industrial division had managed to survive for decades without any state support, despite fierce competition from imports; a flood of cheaper imports, though, eventually made bus manufacture unprofitable. This division was greatly shrunk in 2006, after the group had very successfully diversified into other business areas including vehicle import and sales and the services sector. [1]
The parent company, Sfakianakis SA, was established in 1957 and remains family owned. With 500,000 customers and EUR500m revenues in 2009, [2] Sfakianakis Group is now the largest automotive group in Greece, leading the market in automotive retail across eight businesses in Greece, Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Specialist services include the import and distribution of automobiles, motorcycles, trucks and buses, the import and distribution of machinery for the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors, and a network of 24 dealerships retailing brands including Suzuki, BMW, Mini, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Nissan, Volvo, Ford, Opel, Renault, Dacia and Cadillac.
Sfakianakis, through its Executive Lease car rental division, represents Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Greece and thirteen other countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Republic of North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. [3]
The conglomerate is also active in the mailing sector through its Speedex courier company, with 7 million yearly deliveries through 200 distribution centers servicing 14,000 destinations in 220 countries around the world. Speedex operates through 1,400 highly trained individuals with a fleet of 300 trucks and 700 motorcycles. It also makes air cargo deliveries to island destinations through Express Cargo. [4]
Among other divisions, Sfakianakis is also active in electronics retail chains and large-scale construction through its directly owned subsidiaries. [5]
Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive company, headquartered in Mumbai and part of the Tata Group. The company produces cars, trucks, vans, and buses.
Theologou was one of the first vehicle manufacturers in Greece. It was created by Nikos Theologos, a Greek mechanic who had lived and worked for a few years in the US, and founded this company after he returned to Athens, Greece in 1906. Around 1916 he designed and constructed a light passenger car with a motorcycle engine; according to his descendants, the efforts had started in 1908, and since 1916 a small number were built. His company, nonetheless, produced a variety of bus and truck bodies, mostly on Ford chassis in the 1920s. By the late 1920s it was facing strong competition by larger companies like Tournikiotis and Athena in Athens, Bouhagier in Patras and others, which also produced vehicles on imported chassis, and was soon eclipsed by them.
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.
Petropoulos 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.
Mego (ΜΕΓΚΟ) was a Greek light vehicle manufacturer, based in Trikala. Its first products, launched in 1947, were utility tricycles. In 1951, it began manufacturing motorized utility tricycles with 50–100cc engines and an unconventional design in which the solo wheel was located at the rear.
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.
Attica was a brand name of vehicles produced by Bioplastic S.A., a company created in Moschato, Athens by Georgios Dimitriadis, a figure in Greek automotive history.
Hellenic Vehicle Industry is a Greek manufacturer of civilian and military vehicles based in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The name SAM stands for Stephanos A. Mbaltas, the founder of this Greek company, one of several that produced three-wheeler trucks in that country, in business between 1966 and 1974. Its first models used 1200cc Volkswagen air-cooled engines, while Ford 1300cc engines powered later models. The chassis developed by SAM was very robust and some of its trucks were surviving 30 years after the company went out of business.
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.
EBIAM was a Greek company based in Thessaloniki that, among others, produced 4x4 trucks. It belonged to a generation that benefited from a Greek law classifying any vehicle that could be used for agricultural purposes as "agricultural machinery".
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.
Iochpe-Maxion S.A. is an automobile components manufacturer based in São Paulo, Brazil.
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. It also manufactures snow-clearing equipment.
Bouhagier Patras or Buhayer Patras was considered to be the longest-lived vehicle body manufacturer in Greece. It was founded in 1890 and dissolved in 2004.
The Pantelemidis family owned a company producing farm machinery and buses, using the Titan brand name. It was established in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1937. This company became best known, however, for the engineering inventions of Ioannis Pantelemidis; especially a novel chassis type he designed in 1955, on which he produced two vehicles, a 4-tonne truck and a city bus. The chassis featured a complex hydraulic mechanism and axle design which enabled the driver to adjust ground clearance.
This article provides an overview of the automotive industry in countries around the world.
The Sakthi Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate with operational areas in India, China, Europe, Middle East and United States. The group has operations in Sugar, Dairy, Industrial Alcohol, Automobile distribution and components, Transportation, Energy, Textiles, IT, Education and Healthcare. N. Mahalingam is the Founder. The group has automotive dealerships for leading brands of Maruti Suzuki and Tata vehicles in various places in South India. The group is also involved in Petrol Pump Operations, Indane LPG Distribution and the sale of consumer products and electronics. It also has a footprint in the textiles industries with Sri Sakthi Textiles Ltd.