Get Your Own Businessabc AI Visibility ID
Boost AI visibility, credibility, and discoverability
The company was founded by Nicolaus Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, and his partner Eugen Langen on 31 March 1864, as N. A. Otto & Cie, later renamed to Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz after moving operations in 1869 from Cologne to Deutz, located on the opposite side of the Rhine, also called "the wrong side" in Cologne.
In the early years, Otto and Langen were interested only in producing stationary engines, not automobiles. The technical director, Gottlieb Daimler, was eager to produce automobiles. In the middle of the 1870s, it was suggested that he transfer to the company's St. Petersburg factory to reduce his influence. He resigned, taking Wilhelm Maybach with him. Deutz also produced agricultural machines such as combine harvesters and tractors, as well as commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses.
In 1884 Edouard Sarazin, a Belgian patents lawyer and pioneer of automotive engineering, represented 'Gasmotorenfabrik Otto & Langen' and acquired the licence to build Deutz engines in France, which he duly contracted to Perin, Panhard & Cie in Paris. Around 1886/7, he similarly acquired licences to build Daimler engines. His untimely death in 1887 left his widow Louise to develop the business relationships and complete the partnership negotiations.:?p.11?:?p.14?:?p.101?Famous people who have worked for Deutz include Eugen Langen, Nicolaus Otto, Gottlieb Daimler , Wilhelm Maybach , Prosper L'Orange , Ettore Bugatti , and Robert Bosch.
During World War II, the company was ordered to produce artillery and operated under the name Klöckner Humboldt Deutz AG . The factory was almost destroyed by an air raid on the night of the 3rd and 4th of July 1943 .From 1892 to 1970, Deutz built locomotives in the power range from 4 HP to 2000 HP; until 1927 with gasoline engines, and from 1927 increasingly with diesel engine drive.
Commercial vehicles powered by Deutz engines were popular from 1960 to 1980. Fire engines built by Magirus in Ulm, Southern Germany, used an M-shaped logo, with the steeple of the world's tallest church, the Ulm Minster, in its center. After the Magirus-Deutz merger, the company continued to use this logo even though the twin towers of the Cologne Cathedral can be seen from the company headquarters.
Deutz's head office is in the Porz district of Cologne and, as of 2004, was manufacturing liquid and air-cooled diesel engines. The larger engines in the Deutz range were manufactured in Mannheim at a production facility that once belonged to Süddeutsche Bremsen-AG as MWM-Diesel. Deutz also has production facilities in other countries, including Spain, and a joint venture production facility in China. After Deutz took over, the plant specialized in marine engines. This facility now produces engines for marine and power generation, which can run on either fuel oils or fuel gases . In 1995 Deutz sold its agricultural machinery division – Deutz-Fahr – to the Italian company SAME, forming SAME Deutz-Fahr.
In February 2022, CEO Frank Hiller was dismissed and replaced by the supervisory board. Sebastian Schulte replaced him as the interim CEO & CFO. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Bernd Bohr, resigned. His successor was Dietmar Voggenreiter.
