Langkampfen, 7 August 2018

The end of an era: the last VIKING lawn mower in green leaves the production line

On 1 July 2018, the gardening power tool manufacturer VIKING was renamed STIHL Tirol. This step marks an important milestone in the complete integration of the brand into the STIHL Group. However, 31 July 2018 saw one more special "VIKING occasion" in Langkampfen, when the last green VIKING lawn mower left the production line.

From 2019, the full product range will be sold under the STIHL brand as part of the brand change from VIKING to STIHL. The gardening power tools from Langkampfen have therefore been manufactured in two colours in recent months (albeit in greater numbers in the striking STIHL orange). The STIHL cordless lawn mowers were switched to orange at the beginning of the year.

The last green VIKING mower is an iMow robotic mower MI 632. Incidentally, this special green mower will not be offered for sale – it will be going directly into the company's own museum.

VIKING was founded in 1981, and its first years revolved around developing and producing garden shredders. The first lawn mower left the production line on 19 March 1984. At that time, the company was still based in Kufstein and had 35 employees. Today, the lawn mower is the Tyrolean company's absolute top seller (with manually operated lawn mowers, ride-on mowers and robotic mowers available) and the number of employees has increased to over 500.

VIKING-branded gardening power tools in the classic green design can be purchased from specialist dealers up until the end of 2018. The STIHL Group guarantees that arrangements for VIKING products regarding warranty, spare parts and service will continue to apply unchanged even after the brand change.

STIHL Tirol
STIHL Tirol was established as VIKING GmbH in Kufstein in 1981 and has been a full subsidiary of the STIHL Group since 1992. In addition to battery-powered and electric products, the Langkampfen site also develops, produces and sells lawn mowers, robotic mowers, ride-on mowers, garden shredders, tillers and scarifiers. The continuous and strong growth in recent years has made the Tyrolean company a leader in the gardening power tool sector. With 480 employees, VIKING achieved a turnover of EUR 381.9 million in 2017.

Company portrait
The STIHL Group develops, produces and sells power tools for forestry and agriculture as well as landscape cultivation, construction and private garden owners. The product range is complemented by the gardening power tool range of the former VIKING brand, which will be sold entirely under the STIHL brand from 2019. The products are sold exclusively via specialist service-providing dealers, with 38 fully-owned sales and marketing companies, around 120 importers and more than 45,000 specialist dealers in over 160 countries. STIHL has production facilities in seven countries worldwide: Germany, USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria, China and the Philippines. STIHL has been the world's highest-selling chain saw brand since 1971. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Waiblingen near Stuttgart. In 2017, STIHL achieved a turnover of EUR 3.8 billion with 15,875 employees worldwide.