Matador (company)

Matador is an internationally operating Slovakian tire manufacturer based in Púchov.

The company was founded in 1905 in Bratislava, Slovakia as rubber and balata works Matador. The Matador brand was protected from the start. In 1925, the first Matador tires were produced. In the interwar period Matador was the only tire manufacturer in the Czechoslovakia. Were equipped mainly domestic brands such as Skoda and Tatra.

Since the Second World War, the tire demand rose sharply, another tire factory was built in 1947 in Púchov in northern Slovakia, which started in 1950 with the production.

By restructuring the tire industry Czechoslovakia, the tire manufacturer Bata, Matador and all Rubena built under the new tires Barum brand as a joint venture with the then still independent Austrian tire manufacturer Semperit AG. Also the work in Púchov was affected.

1987, a research laboratory was built.

The state-owned company was privatized in 1990 and converted into a public limited company. After the division of Czechoslovakia, the Barum brand was taken over by the German tire manufacturer Continental AG, while remaining in Slovakia Location in Púchov returned back to its old tradition Matador brand. About 80 % of production is exported under this name.

In 2007, Continental after a few years of the joint venture, the Matador brand completely. 2010, a new production hall in Púchov was inaugurated.

Matador is one of the largest exporters of Slovakia.