The RÁBA Automotive Group (), commonly known as Rába, is a Hungarian public limited company, listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange. Rába engineers, manufactures and customizes automotive components, specialty vehicles and axles for commercial vehicles, agri-machinery and earth-movers. The Rába has been building axles as well as complete vehicles since 1902. The company has three strategic business units. The company is headquartered in Győr, employing more than 2000 people.
History
Establishment
1896. On March 27, a group of capitalists filed a petition with the City of Győr. In the application, they requested and were granted State benefits, duty exemptions and pre-orders. According to the share subscription form, the task of the factory is: " Factory production of wagons, machines and steam boilers, production of all kinds of electrical plants and equipment (…) ". The share capital of the company was HUF 500,000 (of which HUF 440,000 was owned by the Lederer brothers).With the inaugural general meeting held on December 28, 1896, the company at Győr "Magyar Waggon- és Gépgyár Részvénytársaság" officially started its operation. By 1900 the factory was a modern large-scale machine factory with an iron and steel foundry, material testing laboratories, and maintenance and tool-making workshops.
Products, technical development and economic achievements before the First World War
The first months of 1897 were marked by the start-up of the factory. The city of Győr handed over 15 acres of 720 squares to the factory for a symbolic amount of HUF 7,500. They started to convert the ox stalls into a factory building, ordered the technical equipment of the factory, and on February 22 the company was registered in the Győr court of registration. The plant's 500 workers received a total of 500 hp on three steam engine units. The value of the buildings was HUF 131,472, and HUF 48,779 was spent on the renovation. This allowed the company to become a very modern wagon factory. The main (almost exclusive) product of the post-factory period was the railway car. At first trucks and then cars were made 8-10 a day, which was outstanding with 1,200 workers in 1898. The first product was a 15-ton, 2-axle tanker for the Galician-Carpathian Petroleum Rt.
In 1898, orders were placed for the production of freight wagons (wine transport, charcoal transport, furniture transport, poultry transport, fruit transport) and passenger cars (guide wagons). Thus, by the end of the year, the factory had reached the production of the 1660th railway carriage.
In 1899, due to falling domestic orders, the factory looked to exports. We managed to win some Italian, German, and overseas orders. As more and more foreign cities order city trams (Amsterdam, Antwerp), it has become necessary to create an " electric accumulator manufacturing department ".
In 1900, the company was invited to the World's Fair in Paris along with several wagon factories, where the factory presented 4 wagons. In the meantime, they procured the equipment and raw materials needed for battery production.
The year 1901 was a big leap in the world. Customers now included the East India Railways, the Costa Rican Railways, the British Colonies in South Africa and the London Underground Railways. The successes were due to competitive prices, good quality products, and adherence to delivery deadlines. The battery manufacturing division was transformed into a separate company.