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| Industry | machine industry machinery industry and plant construction  |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1927 |
| Founder | Merging of two smaller companies |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Successor | Siemens Mobility |
| Headquarters | Czech Republic |
| Products | Trams, locomotives |
ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) (Czech pronunciation:[ˈtʃɛskomorafskaːˈkolbɛnˈdaɲɛk]) was one of the largest engineering companies in the formerCzechoslovakia and today'sCzech Republic. It is famous for theTatra T3, atramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide.
ČKD was formed in 1927 from the merger of two smaller companies, Českomoravská-Kolben (founded 1896, produced machinery for hydro dams) and Breitfeld-Daněk (founded 1854, produced machinery for mines and food industry).
From 1927 until 1929 ČKD's products included amotorcycle designed by Jaroslav František Koch. It was an advancedfour-stroke single-cylinderunit construction withdouble overhead camshaft design of 500cc. It was sold under themarque BD, thus perpetuating the Breitfeld-Daněk identity. In 1929 ČKD sold its motorcycle business toPraga Hostivař, which re-branded the motorcycles under the Praga marque. It was one of the main suppliers to the Czechoslovak state of military vehicles during the 1930s.
During the Germanoccupation of Czechoslovakia inWorld War II, the company was renamed BMM (Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik AG) and manufactured arms for theWehrmacht. The company's most notable products in this era were a light tank of the company's own design – thePanzer 38(t) – and theJagdpanzer 38(t) tank destroyer, which was built on the Panzer 38(t)'s chassis.
After the war, ČKD wasnationalized and became one of the world's leading producers oftrams. These were produced, initially under license of the AmericanTransit Research Corporation, by its subsidiary company,ČKD Tatra[1] (commonly known as Tatra, when being referred to in connection with trams, but separate from the companyTatra). From the 1930s to the 1950s, ČKD also supplied electrical equipment for severaltrolleybuses built byTatra, as well as ones built byŠkoda[2] until Škoda began manufacturing its own such equipment. ČKD Tatra also manufacturedmetro cars and diesellocomotives, that were exported to other communist countries. One such example from the T-series of Czech locomotives was exported into theUSSR and given aRussian designation "ЧМЭ" (ChME3) there. In the socialist era ČKD employed up to 50,000 people.
After 1989 with worldwide economic and political changes the company lost many of its traditional trade outlets inCentral andEastern Europe, mainly in former countries ofSoviet Union. In 1994 the company wasprivatized by the Czech government and transformed into a holding company. However, new management was unsuccessful and in 1998, ČKD holding was close tobankruptcy. Some companies went bankrupt, while others returned to state ownership through debts to state-owned bankIPB. The state sold some companies separately to new owners, most notably the 2001 sale of the transport company,ČKD Dopravní systémy (CKD Transportation Systems, known until 1997 as ČKD Tatra or simply Tatra), toSpolečnost kolejových vozidel (SKV), the Czech subsidiary of Germany'sSiemens Mobility,[3] finalized in February 2002.
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