The blue spot stands for technical competence. Blaupunkt, a subsidiary of Robert Bosch Ltd. is the European market leader in the car radio industry. Headquarters is located in Hildesheim, Germany where 2800 people are employed. Worldwide, Blaupunkt employs around 7500 staff and produces more than 5 million car radios and 500 000 navigation systems every year.
In the 1920s, Blaupunkt bore a different name. In 1923, when radio was first introduced in Germany, a company called "Ideal" was formed in Berlin. At first, it just manufactured headphones. Each piece of equipment was carefully tested by technicians and marked with a symbol of quality - the blue dot.
It wasn't long before consumer began asking for the earphones with the blue dot - Blaupunkt. The symbol of quality had become the company's trademark and in 1938 it became the name of the company as well. Meanwhile, Blaupunkt has belonged to the Bosch Group for six decades. After WW II, the company re-located from Berlin to Hildesheim. 100 years of automotive history have been accompanied by a host of technical innovations. In 1932, "Ideal" laid the foundation for the development of the in-car audio systems of our day with the first European car radio, the Blaupunkt AS 5. That bulky piece of equipment for medium and long-wave radio claimed approximately ten litres of space a good sixty years ago. There were not yet any special car antennas. Conventional antenna wiring was used and simply laid under the car roof or along the running boards.
