ATR (company)
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ATR (Auto-Teile-Ring, English: “Spare Parts Pool”) is the corporate umbrella of one of the world's largest independent trading cooperations for automotive
spare part A spare part, spare, service part, repair part, or replacement part, is an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or Refurbishment (electronics), refurbishment of defective equipment/units. Spare parts are an i ...
s and a service center for three garage service concepts. The headquarters of ATR is located in Denkendorf (
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
). ATR companies provide auto shops and spare parts dealers with original spare parts and garage equipment.


History

During the 1950s, a large number of major automotive spare parts dealers in Germany came together to publish a joint catalog of automotive spare parts. From the mid-1960s on, the first gas stations began selling automotive accessories: This created competition for wholesalers that had been generating high revenues through sales of accessories. For that reason, several dealers decided to combine their purchase operations. For this to occur, a joint legal form had to be created. This is how ATR GmbH came about in 1967. ATR founding members included wholesalers Auto Merkur, Auto Staiger, Matthies, Stahlgruber und Wessels. ATR is the eldest trading cooperation for automotive spare parts in Germany. Founding members Johannes J. Matthies GmbH & Co KG in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
and Stahlgruber GmbH in Poing, Bavaria have remained part of ATR until today. ATR launched its private label brand Cartechnic for garage products and accessories in 1990. Today, the range includes more than 230 products. The wholesalers involved in ATR pushed on with developing a joint catalog after that, though these efforts only gained momentum with
electronic data processing Electronic data processing (EDP) or business information processing can refer to the use of automated methods to process commercial data. Typically, this uses relatively simple, repetitive activities to process large volumes of similar information ...
. The ATR partners first showcased their electronic spare parts information system ARTis at the Automechanika trade show in 1992. As sales and purchases of automotive spare parts and accessories in the 1990s gradually turned into a global business, ATR moved with the times and aspired an
internationalization Internationalization or Internationalisation is the process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization. Internationalization is a crucial strategy not only for ...
. Its first non-German partners were French parts dealer Groupe Laurent (1991) and Spain’s Gerstenmaier (1992). The foundation of ATR International AG in 1999 created the legal framework for the group-purchasing cooperation’s international expansion.


Facts and figures

Today, 45 partners along with 287 trading companies in 68 countries form part of ATR International AG. These include members in the USA, South America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. ATR has now a presence on six continents. ATR partner companies employ more than 213,486 employees and operate approx. 11,481 local sales points. All in all, members of ATR International AG generated external revenues of 38.09 billion euros in 2023. ATR is one of the largest revenue generators among purchasing cooperations serving the independent automotive spare parts market globally. The non-listed AG’s 45 partners hold the company’s capital.


Garage workshops

In 2008, ATR consolidated independent garage and specialty store service concepts Meisterhaft and AC AUTO CHECK into ATR SERVICE GmbH, which now comprises more than 1,141 owner-operated workshops (as of April 2025). This makes ATR SERVICE GmbH the largest franchiser of independent multi-brand garages in Germany. With its more than 483 workshops located in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Spain, international garage service concept ACC AUTO CHECK CENTER also forms part of ATR. Monday, January 6, 2020


Suppliers

ATR suppliers encompass both
spare part A spare part, spare, service part, repair part, or replacement part, is an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or Refurbishment (electronics), refurbishment of defective equipment/units. Spare parts are an i ...
s manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers such as Bosch, Continental, Hella, Mahle, Schaeffler und ZF Friedrichshafen AG. All in all, ATR works with around 150 suppliers, including companies servicing product groups such as automotive electric equipment, auto-chemicals, automotive accessories, auto body parts, wear parts and tools & workshop equipment.


References


External links


www.atr.de
{{Authority control Auto parts suppliers of Germany Companies based in Stuttgart Automotive repair shops