In 1961 Erich Utsch founded a company to produce license plates.[5] He saw a business opportunity in the increasing motorization of the post-war period. During the very first years, Utsch used a converted wine press; later, the company developed specialized presses.[6] After Utsch died in 1969, his son Manfred took over management. He invested in new technologies and gradually entered foreign markets. As of the 2015 fiscal year, 80% of all revenues came from outside Germany.[7]
2001, Utsch changed its legal structure from Kommanditgesellschaft (KG) to Aktiengesellschaft (AG). Until 2016, the founder family retained a majority stake in the company. Then Manfred Utsch sold the company to Australian and Swedish investors.[8][9]
In 2020, Utsch merged with Hill Numberplates, a manufacturer with major activities in the United Kingdom and France and a presence in parts of Asia, and Africa. The merger resulted in the world's largest license plate group.[10]
Corporation
Utsch is a private German stock corporation. The Erich Utsch AG is the group's parent, with a dozen fully consolidated subsidiaries in several countries, including France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The LicenSys Australasia Pty. Ltd. is a semi-independent subgroup of Utsch, being responsible for the Asia-Pacific markets.[11]
Besides the production of license plates, Utsch sells machines, tools, and other equipment for related production and distribution processes.[6] These include blocking and counter-pressure tools, embossing presses, hot stamping machines, laminators, and laser coding equipment.[14]
Customers include governments from countries from around the world.[15] The government of Italy, for example, commissioned Utsch in 1998 to handle the conversion of license plates to new EU standards;[16] the company supplied millions of official license plates in to Egypt and Iraq in 2008.[17][18]
^Weber, Stefan (May 6, 2002), "Sicherheitskonzepte mit einem Stück Blech." [Safety Concepts With a Piece of Sheet Metal.], Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German), p. 27
^Weikard, André (October 27, 2014), "Vom Erfolg geprägt" [Pressed by Success], Focus (in German), pp. 100–101, retrieved January 4, 2022
^Menzel, Stefan (October 17, 2001), "Der König im Schilderwald" [The King in the Plate Forest], Handelsblatt (in German), p. 24
^"Nummernschild-Größen gehen zusammen." [License Plate Heavyweights Go Together.], Siegener Zeitung (in German), February 20, 2020, retrieved January 4, 2022
^"Annual Report", Company Register (in German and English), Bundesanzeiger, December 19, 2019, retrieved January 4, 2022
^"Prägender Erfolg" [Formative Success], Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German), p. 26, June 5, 2010
^"Siegerländer Technik für Italien" [Siegerland Technology for Italy], Rhein-Zeitung (in German), May 13, 1998
^"Erich Utsch: Kennzeichen für ganz Ägypten" [Erich Utsch: License Plates for the Whole of Egypt], Die Welt (in German), p. 14, July 7, 2008
^Pickshaus, Adrian (July 19, 2009), "Kennzeichen D // Die Utsch AG aus Siegen exportiert Nummernschilder in alle Welt – jetzt auch in den Irak." [License Plate D // Utsch AG From Siegen Exports License Plates All Over the World – Now Also to Iraq.], Der Tagesspiegel (in German), p. 23
