27.07.2020

Otto Rettenmaier 1926-2020

We have received the sad news that Otto Rettenmaier, founder of TII, the owner of trailer/transporter manufacturers Scheuerle, Nicolas, Kamag and Tiiger (TII India), has died at the age of 93 – he would have been 94 tomorrow.

Rettenmaier was born in the Swabian town of Holzmühle, near Ellwangen, Germany. In 1950, after studying business administration at the Technical University of Stuttgart, he joined his parents' company, Faserstoffwerke J. Rettenmaier & Söhne (JRS) which had been established 52 years earlier and produced wood fibres. Over the following years he and his elder brother Josef Rettenmaier expanded JRS into a global market leader producing all manners of fibres for use in applications as diverse as road building to food production.

In 1998, Rettenmaier acquired trailer and heavy transport equipment manufacturer Scheuerle Fahrzeugfabrik out of a ‘technical fascination’ for the products. In 1995, he added the French trailer manufacturer Nicolas Industrie, followed by Germany’s Kamag Transporttechnik in 2004. In 2015 the company acquired the civilian business of Tratec with a manufacturing operation near Delhi, to create Tiiger.
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Otto Rettenmaier

Rettenmaier leaves behind his wife Lore who he married in 1959, two daughters, one son and eight grandchildren. His daughter Susanne Rettenmaier manages the family holding company as managing partner, while other members of the family remain involved with the business as shareholders and main board directors. A team of non-family executives run the business on a day to day basis, under the chairmanship of Gerald Karch.

Outside of his business interests, Rettenmaier supported and funded a wide range of social, cultural and community projects, including the Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences and the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim. As a highly successful industrialist he was awarded Gemany’s Federal Cross of Merit First Class for his contribution to industry.