Summary
50°49′19″N 4°21′37″E / 50.82194°N 4.36028°E
D'Ieteren Group SA (Euronext: DIE) is a company, based in Belgium that is engaged in automobile distribution and vehicle glass repair and replacement (VGRR) and other industrial activities related to spare parts .[1][2]
Activities edit
The group activities consists of five different branches.
- D'Ieteren Automotive imports and distributes Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda, Seat, Cupra, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Maserati vehicles across Belgium.
- Belron (94.85% owned) performs vehicle glass repair and replacement. 2,400 branches and 8,600 mobile vans, trading under 15 different brands including Carglass, Autoglass and Safelite, serve customers in 35 countries.[3]
- Moleskine is an Italian manufacturer, papermaker, and product designer founded in 1997 by Francesco Franceschi, based in Milan, Italy. It produces and designs luxury notebooks, as well as planners, sketchbooks, leather backpacks, holdalls, journals, wallets, various accessories, and stationery.
- Parts Holding Europe (PHE) is a leader in the independent distribution of spare parts for light and heavy vehicles in Western Europe, especially in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain.
- TVH (40% owned) is a parts manufacturer and retailer specialised for industrial and agricultural sectors.
History edit
The D'Ieteren venture started in the 19th century, when it was founded by master coachbuilder Joseph-Jean D'Ieteren. The company started to manufacture car bodies at the beginning of the 20th century, with production being exported. Later, it moved into the assembly and importing of cars and trucks.
In 1948 a deal was struck by Peter D'Ieteren whereby the company would assemble Volkswagens under license. Work began on a factory on the south side of Brussels in October of that year, and by 1949 cars were emerging from it. There was also an agreement to assemble Studebakers, but most of the volume over the next couple of decades came from the Volkswagen business. The factory was sold to Volkswagen in 1970 and is today known formally as "Audi Brussels".
D'Ieteren's car rental business commenced in 1956.[citation needed]
The company imports and distributes other makes of the Volkswagen group: Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, SEAT,Cupra, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini, as well as Yamaha products (till 2020).
D'Ieteren acquired Belron in 1999. Belron performs vehicle glass repair and replacement. The company operates in Europe and Brazil under the brand names Carglass and Autoglass (Ireland, United Kingdom, Poland), in North America (Canada, United States) as Safelite and Speedy Glass, in Australia under the brand name O'Brien and in New Zealand under the brand name Smith & Smith.
References edit
- ^ "D'Ieteren". D'Ieteren. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ Times, The Brussels. "Ugly or valuable? D'Ieteren headquarters added to Brussels protected heritage list". www.brusselstimes.com. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ "D'Ieteren Annual Report 2013". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ Lukas Vanacker (12 December 2017). "Moleskine doet D'Ieteren pijn". De holding D'Ieteren halveert haar winstgroeiprognose na minder dan verhoopte resultaten van de schriftjesmaker Moleskine. De Tijd, Brussels. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
Further reading edit
- ROMMELAERE, Catherine, OLEFFE, Michel, KUPELIAN, Jacques & Yvette, D’Ieteren. 1805–2005. 200 ans d’histoire, Bruxelles, 2005, Ed. : Racine & sa D’Ieteren nv, Bruxelles
External links edit
Media related to D'Ieteren at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website