Traditional family-run business

… since 1954

Foundation of BLEISTAHL North America

BLEISTAHL expands its activities in order to step up its customer service. In addition to the US-American car producers and Asian customers, the Europeans are becoming increasingly successful in North America and require BLEISTAHL technology.

BLEISTAHL Powder Metallurgy Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. is founded.

BLEISTAHL has been supplying the Chinese car market for decades. Business was dominated by Chinese-European joint ventures at the start. Nowadays, however, the market with local vehicle manufacturers has seen extremely rapid growth.

Foundation of BLEISTAHL Manufacturing South Africa (Pty) Ltd. 

In order to satisfy customer requirements in South Africa, BLEISTAHL founded a new production location near Durban in 2003. The main products are brass valve guides for the world market.

3rd generation, Management Dr. Ekkehard Köhler (1995)

BLEISTAHL is now active on the international market. This provides considerable opportunities for company growth.

Valve guides

BLEISTAHL presents a new product: a valve guide made using powder metallurgy which provides a range of benefits faced with increased demands from customers. One of these is the reduction of harmful emissions.

Foundation of BLEISTAHL Brasil Metalurgia S.A. 

BLEISTAHL Brazil is following its customers to South America in order to supply the automotive industry that has grown there, especially Volkswagen. BLEISTAHL is one of the first suppliers to be able to implement local products overseas in the same quality but at local cost levels.

 

2nd generation, Management Michael Köhler 

Michael Köhler takes over management of the company. BLEISTAHL expands its customer base to the entire European automotive industry and develops solutions for lead-free fuels.

Company foundation, Wetter 

Dr. Max Köhler developed a self-lubricating, powder-metallurgical, highly wear-resistant valve seat insert material and the manufacturing process required for this, which allows the use of aluminium cylinder heads in air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle engines.