The history of the group || Group of Companies NIC. J. THEOCARAKIS S.A.

History

The Theocarakis Group of Companies started with as small firm selling car accessories and liquid fuel established by Nicholas J. Theocharakis (b. 1898) in 1924 in Piraeus. Just before the outbreak of World War II, this small firm was to become the largest import company of automotive spare parts in Greece. In 1937 Nicholas Theocharakis established a factory for the production of car brakes and trims, but the war put an end to its operation. In the same period, he owned and operated a substantial fleet of buses.

Just after the war, he enters the car tire business and in 1957 he becomes the exclusive distributor for Greece of Yokohama Rubber Company. This led to the establishment in 1959 of the first joint stock company (Société Anonyme) of the Group, Theocarakis S.A., the main business of which was the distribution of Yokohama tyres.

A milestone of the group’s history was the year 1961, when Nicholas Theocharakis and his two sons, Ioannis and Vasilis, who were actively involved in the business from an early age, became the exclusive distributors of Nissan cars in Greece. They were, in fact, the first distributors of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. in Europe. They created another Société Anonyme for the distribution of Nissan cars: Nic. J. Theocarakis S.A. This company was to become the flagship of the Group. In a few years, the exceptional reliability, the high quality and the competitive pricing of Nissan passenger cars and pickup trucks (marketed under the Datsun trademark at the time) made their impression on the Greek market and the name Nic. J. Theocarakis in Greece was to be inseparably linked with that of Nissan.

In 1976 TEOCAR Ltd. was established as a manufacturing unit of cargo beds for Datsun pickups in the location of the old brake factory in Athens. TEOCAR Ltd evolved into the major industrial company of the Group. In 1978, the planning of a large car assembly plant in the industrial Area of Volos began, and TEOCAR Ltd. was converted into a Société Anonyme, with 100% Greek funds.

Theocarakis Group becomes one of the largest industrial and commercial groups in Greece.

In February 1980 the first car rolled-off the plant’s assembly line. The plant remained in operation until 1995, when economic conditions in the car market drastically changed. During that period, 170.000 cars and pickup trucks were produced, consolidating the already successful presence of Nissan in the Greek car market positioning it in the top position, for 14 consecutive years since 1979. An additional company, TECOM S.A., was established in 1982 in a plot of land adjacent to TEOCAR S.A.’s plant in Volos for the manufacture of car seats and metallic auto parts to be used by the assembly plant. Nowadays, TECOM S.A and TEOCAR S.A are both operating a 6MW photovoltaic power plant currently in the area of Volos, which is producing energy since 2007.

The Theocarakis Group is the distributor of a large number of products, apart from cars, which form the major distribution activity of the Group. They include:


	• Suzuki Marine outboard motors,
	• Same, Deutz- Fahr farming tractors,
	• ER.MO. ploughs, subsoilers and stubble combined cultivators,
	• Lassa and Kenda tyres,
	• Wynn’s and Permatex specialty chemical products and lubricants.

The Theocarakis Group of Companies has also been actively involved with mechanical parking systems since 1993. A mechanical parking facility with 231 spaces (Robopark), was established in 1999 in the center of Athens. The Group has also constructed and operated the parking management systems at two Greek airports, and has constructed and installed mechanical parking systems in several other locations throughout Greece, among which, the Europe’s biggest underground mechanical parking system with 1.100 parking stalls at the YMCA center in Thessaloniki.