What Knorr-Bremse makes

Knorr-Bremse is the global market leader for braking systems on commercial vehicles and rail vehicles. The company's Commercial Vehicle Systems division produces air disc brakes, drum brakes, and complete wheel-end assemblies for heavy trucks, buses, and trailers. Alongside mechanical stopping hardware, the division supplies the electronics that activate and modulate those systems: electronic braking systems (EBS), advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS), adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warning. Air management is a parallel product family covering compressors, air dryers, and trailer control modules that feed the pneumatic circuits running through every air-braked truck.

A retarder product line offers complementary hydrodynamic and electromagnetic braking for long-haul vehicles on mountain grades, where foundation brakes alone would overheat. The TRAVIS acquisition, completed in 2025 and 2026, added a commercial vehicle online booking and fleet services platform that extends the division's presence into fleet operations software.

Knorr-Bremse's Rail Vehicle Systems division serves train operators and rolling stock builders with an overlapping set of disciplines: train braking systems, entrance and door systems, HVAC, platform screen doors, and power electronics. Rail is now the larger of the two divisions by revenue, at €4.3 billion in 2025 versus €3.5 billion for commercial vehicles, and is growing. This profile focuses on the Tier-1 supplier commercial vehicle segment, which is the basis for the Berylls Top-100 ranking.

The company holds patents across brake actuation, pneumatic control architecture, and vehicle stability systems. Its products appear as original equipment on the majority of heavy trucks produced in Europe and at significant share in North America and Asia.

Financial performance

Knorr-Bremse's Commercial Vehicle Systems division reported revenue of €3,503 million in fiscal year 2025, down 8.8% from €3,842 million in 2024. The EBIT margin held at 9.1%, the same as the prior year, producing segment EBIT of €319 million. The revenue decline reflects a broad contraction in European and North American truck production rather than share loss; European truck registrations fell to multi-year lows across 2024 and into 2025 as fleet customers absorbed post-pandemic replacement cycles.

At the group level, Knorr-Bremse reported revenue of €7,817 million in 2025, and free cash flow reached an all-time high of €790 million, with a cash conversion rate above 100% for the second consecutive year. The operating EBIT margin (which excludes restructuring charges) expanded to 13.0% for the group, up from 12.3% in 2024. The company had 30,913 employees as of December 31, 2025.

The Commercial Vehicle division has been subject to the BOOST restructuring program, including workforce adjustments: CVS headcount fell from 13,550 at end-2024 to 11,981 at end-2025, a reduction of approximately 1,600 positions. The company has characterized this as disciplined cost management in response to market volume rather than structural retreat.

Revenue across the CVS segment spans a bill of materials that includes both hardware components and the embedded electronics now standard in commercial vehicle safety regulation. The European General Safety Regulation mandating AEBS and LDW on new trucks has accelerated the electronic content per vehicle, partially offsetting the volume decline in unit terms.

Ownership and history

Georg Knorr founded the business in Berlin in 1905 to supply compressed-air brakes to the Prussian railway network. The company moved into commercial vehicle braking during the 1920s as pneumatic brakes became standard on trucks and buses. Growth through the twentieth century was organic and geographic, with manufacturing plants established in Germany, then across Europe, and eventually in North America and Asia.

Knorr-Bremse AG has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker KBX since 2018, when the Thiele family, which built the company into a global supplier, executed a partial IPO. The Thiele family estate retains a significant share. The ISIN is DE000KBX1006. Headquarters remain at Moosacher Strasse 80, Munich, Germany, in the district where the company has been based since its post-war rebuild.

The company operates at over 100 locations in roughly 30 countries. Key commercial vehicle manufacturing sites include Aldersbach in Bavaria, plants in Hungary and the Czech Republic for European production, and facilities in China (Nanjing), India (Pune), and Mexico (Acuna) for regional OEM supply.

Certifications and quality

Knorr-Bremse states compliance with IATF 16949, the automotive quality management standard, across its commercial vehicle manufacturing operations. The company also states ISO 14001 environmental management system compliance. Per the company's quality disclosures, its facilities operate under multi-site IATF 16949 certification frameworks consistent with Tier-1 OEM supply requirements. Specific certificate issue dates are not published centrally; the company's quality team holds the documentation.

Braking systems supplied to OEM customers go through production part approval processes with each truck manufacturer, given the safety-critical classification of the parts.

Known customers

Knorr-Bremse supplies braking systems to virtually every major commercial vehicle OEM as a nominated or dual-source supplier. Documented programs include Daimler Truck (Mercedes-Benz Actros and Arocs platform brakes), the TRATON Group (MAN and Scania foundation brake and EBS systems), the Volvo Group (Volvo FH and FMX), Paccar (DAF CF/XG and North American Kenworth and Peterbilt platforms), and Navistar (International LT and RH Series). Iveco Group cites Knorr-Bremse as a brake supplier on the S-Way tractor range.

Relationships with these OEMs are long-dated, typically spanning multiple vehicle generations, because brake system qualification is a multi-year process tied to chassis architecture. Switching costs for an OEM requalifying a competing brake system are substantial, which gives established Tier-1 brake suppliers structural pricing stability. For a broader view of how Tier-1 suppliers work with OEMs, see LightSource's supplier tiers explainer.

Recent news

February 2026 — Knorr-Bremse published its full-year 2025 results, reporting group operating EBIT margin of 13.0%, an improvement from 12.3% in 2024, and free cash flow of €790 million, described by management as an all-time high. Revenue in the Commercial Vehicle Systems division declined 8.8% to €3.5 billion, consistent with broad truck market contraction. CEO Marc Llistosella cited the BOOST strategy and fourth-quarter acceleration as evidence of resilience in a difficult macro environment (per the company newsroom, February 19, 2026).

July 2025 — The company reported first-half 2025 results with an order book approaching record levels at €7.3 billion and order intake of €4.5 billion, driven primarily by Rail. Group operating EBIT reached €498 million for H1, at a margin of 12.6%.

2025 — Knorr-Bremse completed or announced the acquisition of duagon, a Swiss provider of electronics and computing systems for rail vehicles, alongside TRAVIS, a commercial vehicle online booking platform. Both acquisitions extend the group's software and digital services capabilities, consistent with the BOOST strategy's focus on value-added content per vehicle.

Frequently asked questions

What does Knorr-Bremse make?
Knorr-Bremse makes braking systems and related safety electronics for commercial vehicles and rail vehicles. Its commercial vehicle products include air disc brakes, drum brakes, electronic braking systems, advanced emergency braking systems, air dryers and compressors, and trailer control modules. Rail products cover train brakes, door and entrance systems, and HVAC units for rolling stock.

Who owns Knorr-Bremse?
Knorr-Bremse AG is publicly listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker KBX (ISIN DE000KBX1006). The Thiele family estate holds a significant stake following the 2018 partial IPO. There is no corporate parent; Knorr-Bremse is an independent listed company headquartered in Munich, Germany.

What is Knorr-Bremse's revenue?
The Commercial Vehicle Systems segment generated €3,503 million in revenue in fiscal year 2025, down 8.8% from €3,842 million in 2024. At the group level (including Rail Vehicle Systems), Knorr-Bremse reported €7,817 million in 2025 revenue, per the company's published investor relations data.

Where is Knorr-Bremse headquartered?
Knorr-Bremse is headquartered at Moosacher Strasse 80, D-80809 Munich, Germany. The group operates at over 100 locations across approximately 30 countries, with commercial vehicle manufacturing concentrated in Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, China, India, and Mexico.

Who are Knorr-Bremse's customers?
Knorr-Bremse supplies braking systems and safety electronics to the major commercial vehicle OEMs, including Daimler Truck, the TRATON Group (MAN and Scania), the Volvo Group, Paccar (DAF, Kenworth, Peterbilt), Navistar, and Iveco Group. The Rail division customers include train operators and rolling stock builders across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Last verified Sep 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.