Aral AG (previously ''Veba Öl AG'') is a German oil company established in 1898 as ''Westdeutsche Benzol-Verkaufs-Vereinigung GmbH'' (West German Benzene Marketing Corporation). The company is currently owned by British conglomerate BP after it was purchased in 2002. The ''Aral''

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

of petrol stations has presence in Germany and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, but formerly used to be in most countries of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

History

The ''Aral'' brand was introduced in 1924 and is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the German words "''Aromaten''" and "''Aliphaten''", alluding to the

aromatic In organic chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property describing the way in which a conjugated system, conjugated ring of unsaturated bonds, lone pairs, or empty orbitals exhibits a stabilization stronger than would be expected from conjugati ...

and aliphatic components found in

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

, respectively. With around 2,400 petrol stations operating, Aral is the market leader in Germany. On 15 July 2001 Deutsche BP AG agreed to acquire 51% of Veba Öl AG. The acquisition was completed on 1 February 2002. The ''Aral'' brand name was retained, and 650 BP stations in Germany were rebranded "Aral". Six BP branded filling stations remained in operation in Germany to protect the company's rights to the name. Elsewhere, in Poland and Austria, Aral stations became BP ones. Aral changes in other countries were sold. Aral's slogan is "''Alles super''". BP bought the chain in 2002 as part of a larger deal with German energy group E.ON EONGn.DE.BP may sell German petrol stations for £1.66 billion
on Reuters, 31 July 2010

Corporate affairs

Aral has about 2,400 stations in Germany.

Products

Aral sells various petroleum products: Besides classical gasoline,

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

and lubricants, it also sells

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, Butane, ''n''-butane and isobutane. It can also contain some ...

, such as

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

butane Butane () is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane exists as two isomers, ''n''-butane with connectivity and iso-butane with the formula . Both isomers are highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gases that quickly vaporize at ro ...

, liquid and gaseous

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

and

heating oil Heating oil is any petroleum product or other oil used for heating; it is a fuel oil. Most commonly, it refers to low viscosity grades of fuel oil used for furnaces or boilers for home heating and in other buildings. Home heating oil is often ...

. Many Aral gas stations also sell other items under the convenience store name "Aral Store". During the 70's and 80's the brand name used was often "Aral Boutique". Many shops currently have a PetitBistro. Some stations also provide car washes under the name Ultimate SuperWash. For businesses, Aral offers different types of fuel cards: Aral CardKomfort for small businesses, Aral CardPlus for larger companies and Aral CardTruck with additional

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

-related services. In a customer study on the quality of offers and service in gas stations by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Verbraucherstudien (DtGV, German Association for CStudies) in cooperation with N24, Aral finished third, behind Q1 and OIL!.

Commercial automotive and motorcycle partnerships

Aral AG is an official long-term recommended fuel of various

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...

marques (including

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

and Škoda), Ford,

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

Land Rover,

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

(including Alpine and

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

) and

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

for automobiles as well as

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

for trucks and buses in Germany. Aral AG is also an official long-term recommended fuel of Triumph for motorcycles in Germany.

Motorsports

Aral AG was an official long-term fuel retailer and convenience store for the touring car racing series

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

from 2005 until 2020

References

External links

*
Unofficial summary of history in English
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aral Ag Automotive companies of Germany Chemical companies of Germany Oil companies of Germany German brands Automotive fuel retailers BP subsidiaries Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia Companies based in Bochum German subsidiaries of foreign companies