| abstract | - The company was founded in 1905 as "Trelleborgs Gummifabriks AB" (the Rubber Factory Corporation of Trelleborg) by Henry Dunker and Johan Kock, who were both already active in the rubber industry. Initially, the company had 150 employees and produced bicycle tyres and rubber for industrial applications. During World War I, the Swedish Armed Forces placed substantial orders. By the mid 1930s, the number of employees had reached 1,000. Beginning in the 1950s, the share of revenue from sales outside of Sweden increased; in 1950, it was 4%, and by 1970, it was 40%. In 1964, Trelleborgs Gummifabriks AB was floated at the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The current name was adopted in 1977. Between 1983 and 1991, the strategy was to act as a wide-ranging industrial conglomerate, with a particular focus on mining and metals. Later, the company's focus returned to rubber products. In 1999, the scope was further narrowed by specializing in industrial applications. In 2003, polymer-based precision seals were added to the product offerings. In 2009 the European Commission fined several marine hose producers, among them Trelleborg AB, "...for participating in a cartel for marine hoses between 1986 and 2007 in violation of the ban on cartels and restrictive business practices in the EC Treaty (Article 81) and the EEA Agreement (Article 53)." In mid 2012, Trelleborg and Freudenberg formed a 50/50 joint venture in antivibration solutions for light and heavy vehicles, TrelleborgVibracoustic. By that, the Group’s immediate exposure to the light vehicles market segment decreased from 34 percent of the Group’s net sales in 2011 to 11 percent at year-end 2012.
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