Carglass
| Company type | Brand |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive glass repair and replacement |
| Founded | 1979 in Sweden |
| Founder | Leroi family |
| Headquarters | Courbevoie , France |
Area served | Europe and internationally |
| Products | Automotive glass repair and replacement services |
Number of employees | ~3,000 (2022) |
| Parent | Belron (subsidiary of D'Ieteren) |
Carglass is a French brand specializing in automotive glass repair and replacement, operating under the Belron group, which itself is a subsidiary of the Belgian-French D'Ieteren conglomerate.
Originating in 1979 in Sweden through the efforts of the Belgian-French Leroi family—who were engaged in car window wholesale trade within Belgium—Carglass expanded its footprint into the Netherlands by acquiring the wholesaler Mobielglas in 1982. The initial outlets were established in Eindhoven and Heerlen. Since 1987, Carglass has been integrated into the South African-based Belron group. The company experienced significant expansion starting in 1989, marked by a swift rise in branch numbers, workforce size, and revenue. By the end of the 1990s, D'Ieteren secured majority ownership, while Belgian investment firm Cobepa retained a minority share. In 2016, Carglass experimented with minor vehicle damage repairs under the Carmetics brand at 24 locations; however, this service was discontinued in 2019 due to insufficient market interest, leading to staff redeployment or layoffs. In 2020, Belron acquired automotive glass operations from A.T.U., Germany's largest garage network, allowing Carglass to support close to 600 A.T.U. sites across Germany and Austria. Simultaneously, Belron scaled back activities in France by negotiating the transfer of Carglass Maison (home-based vehicle repairs) to German holding company Mutares and British firm HomeServe France.
Locations
Carglass maintains operations throughout numerous European nations and internationally.
France
The French headquarters are situated in Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine, in proximity to the La Défense business district. As of December 2022, Carglass employed close to 3,000 personnel distributed over more than 700 service centers and operated a fleet exceeding 350 workshop vehicles. The Courbevoie facility houses both a repair center and a corporate training institution known as the repairer university. In 2014, Carglass introduced the first professional certification for glass technicians acknowledged by automotive industry professionals.
Its customer service center is located at the Futuroscope Technopole near Poitiers.
Since 2010, Carglass has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approach emphasizing windshield repair instead of replacement, achieving full recycling of damaged windshields and transitioning its workshop vehicle fleet toward electric models. The company holds ISO certifications including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 and has been awarded the Gold Ecovadis rating.
Ownership
Belron's ownership structure comprises D'Ieteren Group, private equity investors Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Hellman & Friedman, sovereign wealth fund GIC, BlackRock, along with company management, employees, and founding family members.
External links
- Carglass UK