Barum (company)

Barum, Otrokovice

Barum is a manufacturer of tyres based in the Czech Republic. The Barum tyre company was created as a subsidiary of Bata Shoes who made rubber soled boots in Czechoslovakia. The high cost of rail transport prompted the Bata company to operate its own fleet of vehicles to transport goods by road and in 1934, to counteract the high costs involved in importing tyres for its fleet of vehicles, the company decided to produce them itself. In 1945 the three major rubber-producing companies in Czechoslovakia were merged, Bata in Zlin, Rubena in Nachod [Kudrnac pre-1945] and Mitas [Michelin + Veritas] in Prague-Strašnice and post-war in Hrádek nad Nisou, being originally a subsidiary of Michelin. The Bata family lost control of the company which was seized by the state and the Barum company was born.

In 1966 the construction of a brand new manufacturing facility commenced in Otrokovice and the following year the first radial tyre was produced at the factory in Zlin. The factory was named Rudy Rijen (Red October) in 1953 after the October revolution in the Soviet Union.

In 1972 Tyre manufacture ceased in Zlin when a new plant was built in Otrokovice

In 1992 A joint venture agreement is signed with Continental AG.

The Mitas company still exists in its own right.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barum.

• Barum website
• Mitas history
• Barum history