From a small design office with a staff of four to the largest independent partner to the inter-national mobility industry with over 5.600 employees - behind it are EDAG's 40 years of success, the special commitment and achievements of all employees.

Founding years

Everything began in February 1969 under the name "Konstruktionsbüro Horst Eckard" in Groß-Zimmern near Darmstadt. The first design contract for Ford AG paved the way into the automotive industry. In accordance with the philosophy - which is still valid today - "always to be close to the customers, wherever they are", the first office was in Cologne. The seventies were characterised by the untiring work ethics and the will to deliver prompt quality design services to the customer.

These central virtues of EDAG quickly bore fruit. New customers i.e. VW, Audi, KUKA or Karmann were won, and new offices were opened in Wolfsburg and Ingolstadt.

The Eighties

The eighties were characterised by growth and expansion. The locations Fulda, Cologne and Munich were permanently enlarged and the reputation of the young firm in the automotive industry grew. New customers i.e. Opel or Daimler Benz were acquired. In 1983 construction work started on the new headquarters of eckard design in Fulda (Hessen), which today because of its central location is still the headquarters of the global firm. The heads of the company felt the trend of the automotive industry to be involved abroad and decided in 1985 to open the first location outside of Germany in Witham, England, the second foreign subsidi-ary was opened in Barcelona in 1987.

Thanks to the corporate vision of EDAG's management the services of the company were continually expanded with the goal of offering comprehensive service in the development of vehicles and production plants.

The beginning of activities in the areas prototype build and electric/electronics in the 80s paved the way to being a design partner with a closed process chain.

The Nineties

Explained by the desire of the consumer to incorporate his own individuality into the choice of his vehicle, the outsourcing of larger design contracts of individual derivatives from existing models of all automotive manufacturers, allowed EDAG to participate even more. In the beginning the main focus was on design contracts for individual vehicle modules, but soon after contracts were signed for the development of complete vehicles and production plants for all well-known national and international vehicle manufacturers. This was followed by complete design projects and turn-key-projects in plant construction for well-known national and international manufacturers.

The nineties were also characterised by EDAG's further expansion of its locations abroad, to be present for the customers from Germany and local markets. In this decade subsidiaries in Paris, Detroit, São Paulo, Lisbon, Kuala Lumpur, Györ and Melbourne were founded. Until this day EDAG with its 35 locations in 21 countries is the engineering service provider with the strongest global presence.

At the same pace technological developments in the company were made especially in the area of simulation technology. EDAG was one of the first suppliers to use this technology and in part influenced the software developers.

A visual sign of the self confidence was given when in 1999 EDAG presented its first concept car - the EDAG Scout at the Geneva Motorshow. Since then the EDAG group annually shows its vision of the vehicle of tomorrow to document that EDAG is a partner, who proactively develops new concepts and technologies for the mobility of tomorrow.

Start into the new century

The beginning of the new century was characterised by the continuation of the company's growth: In 2000 alone the work force grew by 1000 employees to a total of 3000 employees. The construction of a 10,500 sqm hall in Fulda-West for pre-assembly and for testing complete production plants confirmed the competitive edge for not only the development of the product automobile but at the same time the development and building of the corresponding production plants. It was therefore logical to fully integrate the plant constructor FFT into the EDAG group.

2002 was a big turning point in the up to now unique success story: The long-standing board member and partner Ewald Vollmer died on March 15, 2002 after a short, serious illness. An outstanding engineer and businessman, for over 30 years he played a significant role in shaping eckard design/EDAG. With the other principal shareholders, Franz Frohnapfel and Peter Heil, he succeeded in turning EDAG into an internationally acknowledged concern, while at the same time upholding the relaxed atmosphere of a medium-sized firm.

A time of re-organisation followed to prepare the company for the future. When in 2000 under Ewald Vollmer EDAG began working in the aircraft industry it paved the way for the company to become a partner in the international mobility industry.

An important milestone was when ATON GmbH owned by Dr. Lutz Helmig joined the company. In Febrauar 2006 the Fulda company ATON GmbH acquired 100% of the ordinary shares and made it possible to continue having an owner-shaped and independent company.
With the support from the new associate the EDAG's diversifying strategy was promoted and new customers and business areas were developed. The business area aerospace was ex-panded to today's 600 employees, the introduction into the branch manpower services came with ED Work or the changing of prototype activities in Eisenach and Ingolstadt into providers of small-series production.

"The example aerospace shows that with our expertise we can be successful outside of our core market automotive" said Jörg Ohlsen, spokesman of the EDAG board. "Together with my colleagues from the board Manfred Hahl and Rainer Bauer we have already successfully instigated the expansion into the rail industry and the branch "renewable energy."

40 years after founding the EDAG group with its more than 5,600 employees stands for independent entrepreneurial actions, development and implementation of innovative products, production plants and processes in various branches of the mobility industry.

The EDAG "Light Car - Open Source" - first introduced at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show - stands for the bundled know-how of the EDAG group and all of its employees. The Light Car underlines the ambition to be able to supply the relevant markets in the future and therefore be well-positioned for the next 40 years.