German engineering is widely recognized as some of the best in the world. From cars to tools, Germany has made a great reputation for itself. This is certainly the case with power tools and German lawn mower brands as well. However, some of these brands might not be as well known to people outside of Germany. I’ve done a bit of research into the most popular German lawn mower brands and am going to try to paint a picture of what each company is all about.
The way that I have found is best to describe each company is to talk about their origins and current manufacturing practices. Where a company makes its products can say a lot about its quality and values.
German Lawn Mower Brands that Are Manufactured Overseas
After doing a good amount of digging, I found that most German lawn mower brands manufacture their lawn mowers outside of Germany. This isn’t to say that they don’t do any manufacturing in Germany, but that the majority of their products/parts are fabricated in other countries. Each of these companies has its own processes so let’s dig into them one by one.
STIHL
In 1926 Andreas Stihl built his first chainsaw in Germany and the company grew very slowly through the 1930s. After making it through the depression era and Second World War, STIHL was the first company to export chainsaws to the United States and the Soviet Union. Having a bunch of success in the saw industry, STIHL built manufacturing plants in the United States and Brazil. However, only a number of years later in 1984, STIHL introduced its first line of lawn mowers.
There are now seven countries across the world where STIHL manufactures its equipment: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, China, the Philippines, Brazil, and the United States. However, STIHL can almost be classified as a company with lawn mowers made in Germany. This is because they have a huge production plant for lawn equipment (including mowers) in Austria. Still, most of their manufacturing is done outside of Germany or overseas.
Bosch
A huge name in the world of tools, Bosch is another of the most widely recognized German brands. One of the reasons for this is that they do much more than just manufacture tools. Focused on engineering along with mechanics when founded in 1886, Bosch accomplished a ton in the world of technology. They have continued this progression since then and now are a multi-billion dollar company spread across several different business sectors.
With this growth, Bosch has also outgrown its local roots in Germany. Most of the production of Bosch lawn mowers and other lawn tools is done in China on quite a large scale. Their lawn mowers are quite innovative and recently they have been rapidly developing robotic lawn mower technology.
WOLF-Garten
The WOLF-Garten brand is a huge name all across Europe. Based in Germany and focused on the market there, it is especially popular with German citizens. All corporate operations are conducted from the head office in Saarbrücken-Bübingen, but their products are sold outside of Europe as well.
Looking for German ride-on mowers? WOLF-Garten makes over 500,000 lawn mowers and lawn tractors every year. However, all of this bigger lawn equipment has been made at their production plant in Hungary since the turn of the millennium. But, they do have three other manufacturing locations in Germany. From small garden hand tools (like lawn shears), to spare parts, a bunch of WOLF-Garten products are actually made in Germany.
Einhell
Another big German conglomerate, Einhell has its origins in Germany but has since expanded out of Europe into many other markets including the United States and Australia. Prioritizing creativity and growth, Einhell offers a bunch of tools and types of lawn mowers. Boasting the German engineering and design of their products, they have had a lot of success and proven themselves in the lawn care industry. However, like Bosch, Einhell relies heavily on China for the production of its lawn equipment.
German Lawn Mower Brands that Are Made in Germany
Running a business that makes its products in the same place where they are sold is no easy task. Of the most popular German lawn mower brands, there are mainly two that have really committed themselves to manufacturing in Germany: Gardena and Metabo. There are many reasons why companies do this, but it tends to make them stand out from the rest.
Gardena
Founded in Ulm, Germany in 1961, Gardena has remained there ever since. However, many big changes have occurred since they dove into the world of garden tools. One of their biggest lawn care developments was the release of a cordless lawn shear in 1973. Gardena was way ahead of the curve on this one. Starting to develop robotic lawn mowers in 2012, this may be the case for them again. Focused mainly on electrical products, Gardena is working hard to perfect the German-made electric lawn mower.
More recently, Gardena was bought out by the popular Swedish company Husqvarna. But, Gardena still operates pretty independently with three manufacturing plants in Germany.
Metabo
Made in Nürtingen is a big slogan that Metabo likes to use. Reaching back to 1924, Metabo is another company that built a solid foundation in Germany and never left. They have over 170 employees at their main plant that are in charge of all of their product assembly. Metabo takes great care to make sure they produce quality goods and they use their local German population every step of the way.
As far as a cordless lawn mower made in Germany goes, Metabo makes some of the best. They have developed their own battery pack technology and are leaders in the electric lawn mower industry.
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