As a rare family owned business with 320 living descendants of the founder owning equity in the company, Freudenberg has evolved from a leather tannery to a leading Tier 1 supplier in various industries. The company is continuing to grow its automotive business – its largest customer group – with a focus on sealing technologies, liners, headers and chemical specialities used in lubricants and tyres. The supplier counts Parker Hannifin and Federal-Mogul among its competitors.
Internal combustion engines originally used Freudenberg’s leather sealing products until the development of rubber technology in the early 1940s. At this point, “leather was left behind and rubber sealing devices were used,” Robert Evans, President and General Counsel, North America at Freudenberg, told Automotive World.
Next door to Freudenberg’s corporate office in Plymouth, Michigan, sits Freudenberg-NOK, a
