History
For almost 50 years now, our name stands for future-oriented charging systems. With our ideas we have always set new milestones in the turbocharger development. These successes are also reflected in the development of our company.
1899
- Establishment of the joint-stock company of Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch in Frankenthal, Germany
1918
- Founding of Schwitzer Company in Indianapolis/USA
1928
- The first supercharger from Schwitzer
1949
- Schwitzer markets its vibration dampers
1952
- Turbocharger development and production start at AG Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch
- The first Schwitzer turbocharger is used in a Cummins Diesel Racer
1954
- Production of the first Schwitzer turbocharger for Caterpillar begins
1960
- Production of turbochargers begins in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany
1962
- Collaboration between Schwitzer (U.S.), AG Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch (Germany) and Holset (U.K.)
1972
- AG Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch takes over Eberspächer’s turbocharger line
- Development of the K series of turbochargers
1975
- Start of production in Bradford, U.K. and Campinas, Brazil
1978
- Start of production at the new site in Bradford, U.K.
1979 - 1981
- Gradual expansion of the production capacity in Kirchheimbolanden to 300,000 turbochargers a year
1980
- Expansion of production at the Bradford, U.K. facility
- Start of production at the new manufacturing site in Asheville, North Carolina
1985
- Expansion of the production capacity of the Bradford, U.K. facility
1986 - 1990
- Gradual expansion of the production capacity in Kirchheimbolanden to 600,000 turbochargers a year
1992
- Market launch of the new K0 series for passenger cars
1994
- Market launch of the new S-100 series
1997
- BorgWarner Automotive, the world’s leading automotive supplier, acquires a majority stake in AG Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch
- Extension of the capacity of the Kirchheimbolanden plant to one million turbochargers a year
1998
- Extension of the production capacity of the Kirchheimbolanden facility to 1.5 million turbochargers a year
- Production of the 10 millionth turbocharger in the history of AG Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch
- Founding of 3K-Warner Turbosystems GmbH as a BorgWarner subsidiary, after the acquisition of the supercharging systems division of AG Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch
1999
- Takeover of Schwitzer by BorgWarner and integration of it in BorgWarner Turbo Systems along with 3K-Warner
- Inauguration of the new office building in Kirchheimbolanden, thus taking the first step toward concentrating 3K-Warner at the Kirchheimbolanden site
- Start of construction of the world turbocharger development center of BorgWarner Turbo Systems in Kirchheimbolanden
2000
- The development center in Kirchheimbolanden begins operating
- The headquarters of BorgWarner Turbo Systems is moved to Kirchheimbolanden
- Market launch of the new KP series, including the smallest turbocharger for passenger car diesel engines, the KP31
- Start of production of passenger car turbochargers with variable turbine geometry (VTG)
2001
- Establishment of a turbocharger assembly facility in Oroszlany, Hungary
- Construction of a development center for the North American market in Asheville
2002
- Opening of a central spare part logistics center in Europe
- Series production of turbochargers with variable turbine geometry for commercial vehicles
- Market introduction of R2S™ technology for marine motors
- Production start for compressors made of titanium
2003
- New BV generation with variable turbine geometry for passenger cars is put into series production by BorgWarner
- First BV turbocharger with electric blade adjustment goes into series production
- 3K-Warner Turbosystems GmbH undergoes a name change and is now called BorgWarner Turbo Systems GmbH
2004
- First VTG turbocharger with electric blade adjustment for commercial vehicles is put into series production by BorgWarner
- First serial usage of regulated 2-stage supercharging (R2S) on a passenger car diesel motor
- Founding of the joint venture Seohan Warner Turbo Systems in Korea
- Expansion of the Development Center in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany
2005
- Series production launch of the BV35, the smallest member of the VTG turbocharger family by BorgWarner
- Regulated 2-stage supercharging (R2S) for the medium commercial vehicle segment goes into series production
- Opening of production site in Pyongteak (Korea)