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45°27′21″N9°08′52″E / 45.455842°N 9.147737°E /45.455842; 9.147737
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1964; 61 years ago (1964) |
| Founder | Gianpiero Moretti |
| Headquarters | , Italy |
| Products | Alloy wheels,steering wheels,car seats,gear sticks,tires,decals |
| Website | momo.com |
MOMO Srl is adesign company headquartered inMilan, Italy that makes accessories and parts forautomobiles, such asalloy wheels,tires,steering wheels,seats,gear sticks. The company also has aclothing line of products that includeracing suits, gloves, andshoes.
MOMO was founded bygentlemanracerGianpiero Moretti in 1964.[1] 'MOMO' are the initials forMoretti-Monza.Monza is a town in theProvince of Monza and Brianza. That year, Moretti produced a racing steering wheel for his own race car. This was the first steering wheel produced by the brand. Compared to the other racing steering wheels available on the market at that time, Momo featured thicker grip, the other racers noticed the convenience of that steering wheel and wanted to obtain the same for their vehicles. So, steering wheels by this brand gained fame throughout the racing community and among the Formula One drivers. So, John Surtees, one of Formula One’s drivers, requested the same steering wheel for his single-seater Ferrari. That same year, he won a Formula One race - the first significant victory of the Momo brand.
In 1969 MOMO opened production plant inTregnago,Province of Verona.[1] Due to increasingUnited States federal government safety regulations and the wide adoption ofairbags in passenger vehicles internationally, MOMO was sold in 1996 to Breed Technologies, asteering wheel airbag manufacturer. Breed Technologies was acquired byprivate equity firmCarlyle Group and merged with otherOEM automotive businesses they owned to formKey Safety Systems in 2003. Key Safety Systems sold the MOMO brand name to an Italian private equity group in 2006, but most of the manufacturing plants and technologies previously owned by MOMO were retained by Key Safety Systems.
In 2011, MOMO was sold to Henrique Cisneros, a Venezuelan-American businessman part of theGrupo Cisneros and amateur racecar driver.[2][3]
In 2012, MOMO launched a line of summer, all-season, and winter tires in Europe. The tires have been available in North America since 2017.[4][5]
MOMO's product range includes consumer accessories such assteering wheels,shift knobs,alloy wheels, andtires through to race equipment such as racing suits andhelmets. MOMO airbagged steering wheels have become standard accessories on some regionalSubaru andMitsubishi performance cars. MOMO steering wheels were standard features in theUMM Alter II from 1987 to 1991. MOMO has also designed a steering wheel forcomputer peripheral companyLogitech (called the Logitech MOMO), to be used as a video game controller. Thomas Superwheel controllers (a brand of high-quality, premium priced controllers) also feature the MOMO name. Also watches, eyewear, fragrances, clothing, accessories, etc. are made by brand MOMO DESIGN.[6]
The company sponsored many prototype cars in theIMSAWSC series including theFerrari 333 SP sports prototype car, afterScuderia Ferrari had retired from that racing category 20 years earlier.
MOMO was the official steering wheel of theChamp Car series from 2004 to 2007, before Champ Car merged toIndy Racing League. MOMO are also suppliers of the official steering wheel, racing seats, clothing and racing accessories of theSpeedcar Series.
MOMO also sponsorsLira Motorsports in theARCA Racing Series and theCamping World Truck Series.
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