LKQ 25TH Anniversary Stories - Quarterly Story I: We are LKQ

LKQ 25TH Anniversary Stories – Quarterly Story I: We are LKQ

March 20, 2023

LKQ 25TH Anniversary Stories – Quarterly Story I: We are LKQ

Quarterly Story I

We are LKQ

Back in 1998, Donald Flynn and a group of investors founded LKQ. Their ambition was to provide high quality auto parts to a marketplace that was eager for cost effective repair solutions. In the course of the past 25 years, the company had many landmark moments.

This article is going to walk you through LKQ’s history in each continent that we operate in. You will see: LKQ’s culture and history is more than what’s visible with the eyes. We have much richer stories and would like to share them with you – to celebrate where we are standing at today.

We are LKQ North America

It all started from here

25 years ago, Donald Flynn and a group of investors founded LKQ Corporation.

Their idea was simple, yet bold and visionary – to reimagine the automotive salvage marketplace. Don Flynn had been a senior executive at Waste Management when the idea dawned upon him to do for the salvage industry what Waste Management had done for the trash industry. Namely, to aggregate many of the small & independent trash companies into a single company, and through that scale, bring efficiency, improved quality processes, and value to the industry by providing a better customer service experience.

And that’s exactly what happened in 1998 with the formation of LKQ. The company’s name – “LKQ” – came directly from an alternative parts term, “Like-Kind-Quality”, which signified that a part was designed to perform similarly to the Original Equipment (OE) part. These days, as LKQ has diversified both geographically and into product and service segments beyond its origin – salvage business, the “LKQ” acronym is now referred to “Leadership. Knowhow. Quality” which more accurately reflects its place in the world.

Over the past 25 years, LKQ has been focused on growth, through internal development and approximately 300 acquisitions worldwide, in the areas of aftermarket, recycled, and remanufactured parts, paint-related products, self-service retail business, specialty vehicle aftermarket equipment and accessories, and services.

Today, LKQ is the leading provider of alternative and specialty parts to repair and accessorize automobiles and other vehicles. LKQ continues to be a thought leader in driving the industry forward, in everything from efficiency and sustainability to product quality to expansion into other related businesses, like services.

LKQ has been an environmental leader since the day the company was founded in 1998 as a salvage dismantler and recycler of passenger vehicles. And we are “LKQ Proud” to say we’ve become the largest automotive recycler in the world, with its North American operations recycling more than 90% of the materials from the vehicles we procure that would otherwise go into landfills.

We are LKQ Europe

The automotive aftermarket leader

This year, LKQ celebrates 25 years. A quarter of a century in which LKQ has made a huge impact in the auto repair industry. The company’s legacy, leadership and growth in Europe is equally as impressive. LKQ Europe came into being following the acquisition of Euro Car Parts in 2011, significantly expanding its reach and expertise. The company’s European history actually goes back much further: One of its subsequent acquisitions, STAHLGRUBER Group, was founded in Germany in 1923.

Since 2011, LKQ’s presence in Europe has grown rapidly following a number of acquisitions. It now has a presence in more than 20 European countries, it employs approximately 26,000 people, has a network of more than 1,000 branches, and supplies more than 100,000 workshops.

“At LKQ, we’re all connected through a common goal and shared passion. To provide our customers with the best possible service and be leaders in our field,” says Varun Laroyia, CEO LKQ Europe. “Simply put, collectively we have the most impressive range of experience and understanding of the market. And this has led to our market leadership position.”

From sustainable logistics and breakthrough products, through to industry expertise and exceptional customer loyalty, the regions of Europe have much to be proud of.

Crossing the pond: UK and Ireland

Since joining LKQ in 2011, LKQ Euro Car Parts has empowered its customers to find what they need faster and more efficiently. Trade, retail and collision are the key sectors, and as the leading distributor of car and light commercial vehicle parts, it offers the widest range of spare parts and repair solutions in the UK and Ireland. Its reach spans more than 280 branches, stocking over 100,000 different parts, and equipped with a hub and spoke distribution model which disrupted and redefined the UK market.

In addition to the company’s rapidly growing e-commerce platform, LKQ Euro Car Parts offers innovative services to enhance the customer experience and foster business growth. The wider group also supports body shop customers through LKQ Coatings and marine and leisure customers through the Arleigh Group.

The DACH Region: Germany, Austria and Switzerland

The STAHLGRUBER Group, which was acquired in 2018, is one of the main players in car parts wholesale in Germany and Austria. Since beginning of 2023, it operates under the name LKQ DACH, and includes the division brands LKQ STAHLGRUBER in Germany and Austria, LKQ PV AUTOMOTIVE, NEIMCKE and also LKQ RHIAG Switzerland. Around 5,800 employees work for the group at 167 locations. In addition to trading in automotive spare parts, accessories, workshop equipment and tools, LKQ DACH offers comprehensive service packages for the entire automotive repair industry, by supporting strong network with wholesale partners and garage customers, and focusing on maintaining long-standing relationships with its customers.

For LKQ Europe, it offers extraordinary logistics, product availability, plus a highly efficient nationwide distribution network throughout the DACH region.

LKQ Europe has a special attachment to the region, as its head office is located in the Swiss town of Zug.

Italy: more than 60 years of dedicated service

The acquisition of the holding company of Rhiag-Inter Auto Parts Italia S.p.A (RHIAG), in 2016, was undoubtedly a major move for LKQ. The group is a leading player in the independent aftermarket in Italy, as well as many other countries. It is Italy’s leading distributor by size, turnover, logistics network, product range and services. Its range of innovative solutions and services are provided by 17 branches and two central warehouses. RHIAG has also developed proprietary brands in Italy, such as ENERGY batteries and Starline automotive parts and products.

Its long-term goals and ambitions are to lead the aftermarket industry transformation, set the standard for affordable and sustainable mobility and become the voice of the aftermarket in European legislative discussion. In 2022, LKQ RHIAG celebrated its own anniversary; 60 years of dedicated service to the automotive aftermarket in Europe.

The CEE Region: Eight countries and LKQ Europe’s Innovation and Service Center

Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. Today the region supplies more than 90,000 garages across the CEE countries. LKQ CEE is rightfully proud of the complete Technical Sales support offered in the Czech Republic, and some other countries, under the LKQ Academy platform. The Academy provides unique and knowledge-based services Europe-wide, such as garage equipment consulting, garage equipment maintenance and services, diagnostics tools consulting and many more.

The CEE region also boasts the state-of-the-art LKQ Europe’s Innovation and Service Centre located in Katowice, Poland. It is supposed to act as a catalyst for the company’s innovation and digitalization strategy.

Benelux and France – and one of the most innovative warehouses

In 2013, LKQ Europe acquired Sator Beheer, the leading distributor of automotive aftermarket parts in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and northern France. Since then, it has grown from being a Dutch distributor exporting to Belgium and France, towards becoming a true regional company with a strong identity in all three countries.

LKQ Benelux-France offers products and services in the automotive aftermarket within four divisions: parts, paint, tools and equipment, and support.

An important milestone for LKQ’s operational excellence at the regional and European level, was the construction of the Central Distribution Center (CDC) in Berkel en Rodenrijs, close to Rotterdam. The CDC is equipped with the latest technology in mechanization combined with traditional warehousing. The size and scale of this facility plays a vital role in supporting LKQ’s European network and logistics footprint.

The expansion in the region continues apace. In early 2023, LKQ Europe announced the acquisition of Dutch-based Rhenoy Group. Founded in 1991, Rhenoy is a leading supplier of remanufactured engines, and recycled OEM car parts.

LKQ India operations in Bengaluru started in 2008 with one member and has evolved significantly over the last 14 years.; Today, we have 1200+ strong and dedicated intellectual force to deliver the growing everyday demands of our LKQ global organization. We offer extensive services in the areas of financial operations, IT, analytics, supply chain, design, business operations, and many more domains.
LKQ India leverages global scale to create an efficient way of providing value-added services to business units across the globe. Our best-in-class solutions are personalized for each business unit, facilitating operational reliability and positive transformation.
We strongly believe that people are our assets. Our diverse and multicultural talented workforce sets us apart from our competition. As we continue to grow, we strive to hire the best talent and provide them with excellent career paths with progression opportunities across various domains. People engagement, well-being, collaboration, training, reskilling, & upskilling people, and creating a positive environment for members to have fun with work are significant attributes of our competitive advantage.

We are LKQ India:

Competency center for Our Global Operations

LKQ India’s values & culture form the foundation upon which we continue our journey of building a world-class organization. For us, culture is all about:

• Passion — a shared passion for work, relationships, and life
• Trust — trust in the organization, in the leadership, and in each other.

LKQ India fosters an inclusive, collaborative, innovative, and open culture in which our members are offered opportunities to learn, grow and advance in their careers. This makes us cherish working with others and building on each other’s mutual success. Our culture focuses on establishing purpose, leading by example, rewarding excellence, encouraging mentoring, communicating, and transparency.

Fun is one of our core values; we induce fun through day-to-day activities to make
it an integral part of our learning process and work culture, promoting collaboration, engagement, leadership, and teamwork.
We keep business and people at the center of everything we do. We focus on delivering best-in-class innovative and value-added services through planned and continuous improvement of our processes and people.