Liebherr Group: significant boost in turnover in 2021

In 2021, the Liebherr Group achieved a turnover of € 11,639 million. Compared to the previous year, the company posted an overall increase of € 1,298 million or 12.6 %. As a result, the Liebherr Group was almost able to match its previous record year in 2019 in terms of annual turnover.

The conditions in the past financial year were also difficult for manufacturing companies. From the second quarter in 2021, to some extent, it was extremely difficult to procure various raw materials, components and electronic parts. This resulted in price increases and bottlenecks in the global supply chains. Despite that, Liebherr recorded a significant increase in sales revenues compared to the previous year. The Liebherr Group grew in eleven of its 13 product segments and in almost all of its sales regions.

Revenues in the earthmoving, material handling technology, deep foundation machines, mobile and crawler cranes, tower cranes, concrete technology and mining product segments were 17 % higher than in the previous year at € 8,009 million. In the other product segments, including maritime cranes, aerospace and transportation systems, gear technology and automation systems, refrigerators and freezers, as well as components and hotels, Liebherr achieved total revenues of € 3,630 million, a 3.9 % increase compared to the previous year.

Sales increased in the European Union, which has traditionally been the Group’s strongest sales region, with France in particular showing above average development. Positive development was also seen in North America, as well as Central America and South America, where strong growth came especially from Brazil. The Liebherr Group faced declines in Africa, as well as in the Near and Middle East, whereas the financial year in Asia and Oceania ended with a moderate rise.

In 2021, the Liebherr Group achieved a net profit for the year of € 545 million, a value above the level before the pandemic. Operating results and the financial result grew considerably compared to the previous year. The 2021 business year also saw a significant increase in the number of employees. At the end of the year, the Liebherr Group employed 49,611 people worldwide. Compared to the previous year, this constituted an increase of 1,686.

Liebherr: high investments in research and development

Liebherr invested € 559 million in research and development last year. The bulk of this was used in the development of new products. Numerous cooperative ventures with universities, or higher education institutions and research institutes were initiated or continued.

Alternative drive technologies continue to be a focal point of the research projects at Liebherr. The Liebherr Group takes a technology neutral approach. In 2021, it worked, for example, on hydrogen-powered combustion engines and their injection technologies, as well as electric drives. For instance, Liebherr expanded its portfolio of construction machines with electric drives with two all-electric truck mixers on five-axle chassis frames, the two electric crawler excavators R 976-E and R 980 SME-E and the battery-powered crawler cranes LR 1160.1 unplugged and LR 1130.1 unplugged both with zero local emissions. The start of the development phase of the first all-electric offshore crane marked the launch of the electrification of the product portfolio in this area. Furthermore, Liebherr prepared various product lines for the use of hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO) as a fuel. The Ehingen and Kirchdorf an der Iller sites (both in Germany) are now already fuelling all machines with the climate-neutral fuel ex works as standard.

Digitalisation was another focal point of R&D activities. Among others, a new range of refrigerators and freezers with resource-friendly freshness technology and digital networking was launched. In addition, in several product segments, the existing technologies were optimised for remote control, automation and networking and the Liebherr-Remote-Service App was extended. It is also worth highlighting the development of two assist systems for mining trucks, which offer automatic steering assistance, reduce the strain on the driver, and lower fuel consumption.

The annual report of the Liebherr Group can be found online at www.liebherr.com/liebherr-annual-report