How it started
History
Sally Windmüller founded the company in 1899 under the name Westfälische Metall-Industrie Aktien-Gesellschaft (WMI) to produce ball horns, candles, and kerosene lamps for carriages.[1]
Hella's name first appeared in 1908 as a trademark for acetylene headlights. In 1923, the manufacturing family Lüdenscheider Hueck took over the majority of the shares. The name "Hella" was included in the company name in 1986. The most likely explanation for the Hella brand is attributed to Sally Windmüller: He wanted to honor his wife, Helen, in short Hella, and also wanted to use the playful association between this name and the German word heller (brighter).
After World War II, the company started to expand, so in 1951 the first subsidiary company was founded in Wembach. Today Hella has six different production manufacturers in Germany, which are located in Lippstadt, Bremen, Recklinghausen, Hamm (Bockum-Hövel), Nellingen, and Wembach.
Early internationalization and the creation of a global distribution network in the 1960s resulted in the company developing one of the largest distribution networks in the industry, including its subsidiaries and partners in numerous markets worldwide. In 1961, for example, the first foreign production plant was founded in Mentone, Australia. Today, Hella has more than 100 locations in over 35 countries and is operates in the economic regions of Europe, NAFTA/South America, Africa, and Asia/Pacific.
Since the early 1990s Hella has also been part of several Joint Ventures with other automotive part suppliers. Those Joint Ventures help develop other fields of competence. At the moment Hella cooperates with several different companies, such as Mahle Behr, Plastic Omnium, Samlip, Leoni, Mando, TMD Friction, and, innocent. Joint Ventures are, for example, HBPO and BHTC in Lippstadt. Furthermore, the holding "Hella Stanley Ltd Pty" with Stanley Electric was founded in 2002 and is located in Melbourne.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hella, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2