The story
Founded by Ewald Witte in 1899.1
Witte was founded in 1899 by Ewald Witte for the production of suitcase locks. Following the Currency Reform of 1948, the family-owned company began manufacturing locks and fittings for the automotive industry.
In 1992, the company established its subsidiary, Witte Nejdek, spol. s. r.o., in the Czech Republic. From 1993, Witte expanded its international business activities through joint ventures in Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea and India. In 1995, Witte Automotive acquired a majority stake in Riewer Kunststoff GmbH in Bitburg. The company also took over Krosta Metalltechnik GmbH in Velbert in 1996.
In collaboration with the Prinz Group in Stromberg, the joint venture Prinz Witte GmbH was formed in 1999 to produce and distribute products for the automotive industry. In 2000, the then Witte-Velbert and the Strattec Security Corporation, Milwaukee, founded the Vast Automotive Group (Vast = Vehicle Access Systems Technology), which Adac Automotive joined in 2006.
In 2008, the Velbert-based company Friedr. Fingscheidt GmbH was acquired. In addition to its headquarters in Velbert, Fingscheidt had a production facility in Wülfrath, where, among other things, the Mercedes star for Mercedes-Benz cars is manufactured. The same year, the Power Products division of Delphi Automotive was acquired.
In October 2008, a new subsidiary of Witte Automotive, Witte Automotive Bulgaria EOOD, was established in the Bulgarian city of Ruse. In May 2010, Witte Automotive began producing vehicle components in Ruse, with production capacities at the Ruse site being further expanded in the following years. After purchasing land in early 2013, the foundation stone for the new production plant was laid on 11 October 2013, and the plant officially opened on 1 October 2014.
On 13 May 2016, another plant was opened in Ostrov, Czech Republic, where painted exterior door handles, among other things, are manufactured. In the same year, the company Witte Automotive Sweden AB was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Witte Digital, a business unit developing systems for digital car unlocking such as smartphone-based access was established in 2018. In the same period, WITTE Stromberg was sold to Alko Kober SE and renamed Prinz Kinematics GmbH. In 2021, Witte acquired the Czech company IMA, a developer of electronic identification systems.
On 30th June 2023, it was announced that Witte would become the sole owner of the Vast Automotive Group in China and Japan, taking over Vast Automotive Group's shares in Minda-Vast, the joint venture established in 2015 with the Indian supplier Spark Minda. Meanwhile, Adac Automotive took over the unit in Brazil, and Strattec assumed operations of Vast in South Korea. In September 2023, Witte Automotive further expanded into Eastern Europe by acquiring a majority stake in Forez Bulgaria, a company for manufacturing plastic injection moulded parts. The company was renamed Witte Injection Molding Bulgaria, and in July 2024, it was fully acquired and integrated into Witte Automotive Bulgaria. In 2025, Witte expanded its operations in Ostrov by opening a new plant,, doubling its floor space in Czechia to over 50,000 m². In the same year, Witte doubled the building area of its plant in Ruse, Bulgaria, by around 25,000 m² with a new building connected to the existing plant.
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In March 2026, WITTE Automotive completed the acquisition of the Helbako Group, which operates in the field of electronic systems. The acquisition involved locations in Heiligenhaus and Timișoara (Romania) with around 250 employees.
From Wikipedia’s article on Witte Automotive, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5