Matador

The company arose in the town of Púchov in 1947 as a "national enterprise" that was split off from the old firm Matador Bratislava.

Matador Bratislava was founded in 1905 (till 1911 known as the "Matador - Gummi und Balata Werke") involved mainly in the production of rubber hoses and belts in its new facilities in Petržalka, a district of Bratislava. Since 1925, it has produced tires (the first tires producer in former Czechoslovakia). Its tires were fitted to many Czechoslovak automobiles of the 1930s, thus contributing in co-operation with the brands Škoda, Tatra, Aero and others to the development of automotive industry in Central Europe. The firm was nationalized in 1946 and privatized in 1995. Its trade name has been Matadorex, a.s. since the privatization. The key role in privatization and transformation of the company was played by Štefan Rosina, who initially joined the firm in 1950 as a regular worker and eventually became the leader of the management team.