History

NGK is the world's leading spark plug manufacturer with factories and sales offices in all parts of the world.

Parent company -  NGK Spark Plug Co. Ltd

1936

Building on experience from the ceramics industry in Japan, NGK begins the development of high quality spark plugs for the automobile industry.

1949

Development of 'New Ceramics' under the brand name of NTK.

Lambda sensors belong to this product group and are supplied to car

manufacturers all over the world.

Fiscal year 2003   

- Turnover 1.486 million EUR

- Profit before tax 76 million EUR

- 5,441 employees

- 7.0% of Company turnover devoted to R&D

 An international success story - NGK Spark Plugs is now established on every continent with eight

 sales centres, eleven factories and fourteen sales offices.

NGK Spark Plug Europe GmbH

1975   

First European branch office opened in England.

1979  

NGK opened branch in Germany.

1990 

European Technical Centre opens at Ratingen, near Düsseldorf. The facility

has a total area of  2.200 m² and is designed to give European car manufacturer all the support they need in engine and chassis testing, cold climate simulation and specialised exhaust emission work – total costs = over 10 Mio. EUR

1991 

Opening of European manufacturing plant near Orleans in France.

Initial investment of more than 10 Mio. EUR

European Turnover – Fiscal Year 2002 - 330 Mio. EUR

Original equipment successes

NGK is justifiably proud of its engineering expertise which has brought innovative solutions to the engine design problems of European car manufacturers. 

Successes include:

Germany: 

AMG Mercedes, Alpina, Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler,

MCC (SMART), Volkswagen

UK:  

Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar, Lotus, Rolls-Royce, Rover

Italy:  

Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia, Macerati

France:  

Peugeot

Other:  

Daewoo, Ford, General Motors, Kia, Saab, Skoda, Volvo and in Formula 1, the team of Ferrari, BAR-Honda, Sauber-Petronas plus the Mercedes engine program.

All major Japanese car makers specify NGK spark plugs

The outstanding result of the co-operation with Audi and Volkswagen was the development of a new NGK spark plug generation with supplementary spark gap, which makes misfiring practically impossible.  In March 1996 NGK's achievements were acknowledged by the VW Group with the 'Value to the Customer Award' for 1995 and in October 1998 with the ‘Corporate Supplier Award/The Leading Edge 1997’.

NGK won the prestigious Fiat Auto Qualitas 2001 Award, based upon in-depth technical support and total quality of products supplied.  The Company had previously won the Award in 1996 and 1999. In addition, NGK was presented with the Fiat SuPer – Supplier Performance – Award for 1999. This recognises achievements in innovation and cost savings and was awarded to only 25 of Fiat’s 600 current suppliers.

NGK has also developed a new ceramic glow plug for diesel engines which is already installed as original equipment by several manufacturers.

Service quality

European car manufacturers and dealers benefit not only from NGK's technical excellence but also from its service quality.  The storage site at Ratingen constantly maintains a stock of 15 million spark plugs available to both the European car manufacturer and the Aftermarket.

Sensors

 NGK, through its NTK brand, is the world's leading company in sensor production.  Important car manufacturers such as Aston Martin, BMW, Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Lancia, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Rover, Volkswagen and Volvo are using NTK Lambda sensors as Original Equipment.