Next up in our pocket history series is Stiga. Established in Sweden in 1934, Stiga mowers has over 80 years of experience in producing high quality garden machinery. Consumer-driven innovation has always been at the heart of the organisation. Their overriding mission is to provide premium garden machinery and tools that tailor perfectly to all different types of consumer needs and wants.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Furthermore, many of the products that they currently have in their product portfolio are high in safety, ergonomics and are also environment-friendly. This is largely down to worldwide advances in technology, which combined with the company’s knowledge and understanding of the market, has made them one of the leading brands in modern times. Below is a more detailed look at the history of Stiga and their evolution.
1934 – On March 6th, Stig Hjelmquist borrowed 4000 Swedish kronor to start the company “Firma Fabriksprodukter”, laying the underlying foundations for what would become known as Stiga AB. The fundamental business concept of the organisation at the time was “newsworthy products of good design and good quality, with advertising that is better than our competitors” and has remained the main statement that the company stands by today.
1954 – Stig imported the first motorized lawn mowers with horizontally rotating blades from the United States. This became the starting shot of the most successful product line by Stiga to date and its most prominent – garden machines and tools. By the end of the 1950´s, Stiga was also selling ride-on lawnmowers.
1964 – Their business venture of producing their own lawnmowers was becoming a highly successful one as up to 400 machines were being produced every day. The very first battery-operated lawnmower was also produced within the same year.
1974 – The company then launches the Park 2000, a ride-on lawn tractor with frontal cutting deck that went on to revolutionize the grass cutting in the Nordic Countries and was the first of many in their Park model portfolio.
1985 – Stiga introduces the first lawnmower which uses mulching technology, a technique that cuts the grass into smaller clippings that fertilize the lawn.
1986 – The company became the biggest manufacturer of lawnmowers in Europe.
1988 – The 1st radio-controlled lawnmower is demonstrated at the opening of some new premises, with the lawnmower itself cutting the ribbon at the official opening.
1994 – Stiga celebrates its 60th anniversary. The year also sees the launch of the Stiga Garden Battery, the world’s 1st battery-powered ride-on lawnmower.
1999 – A complete new model of the Park machine is launched.
2004 – The company introduces 4-wheel drive to the market.
2012 – They introduce a new range of models called Autoclip (robotic lawn mowers).
2014 – Stiga celebrates its 80th anniversary and strengthens its worldwide image with a complete product portfolio overhaul in terms of restyling. This also coincides with them launching four models to celebrate their 80th anniversary.
2015 – New models continued to be launched, including a new Park Pro, a complete range of 48V battery products and the new Multiclip 47.
2016 – Further developments came with the launch of the new Park with Quick Flip Deck System, a complete range of 80V battery products; Twinclip (premium quality lawnmowers) and the Autoclip 200, a series of “Perfectionist” robot lawnmowers.