Company profile

Torre Automotive

Gabriel is a leading brand of Torre Automotive.

Torre Automotive (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of the JSE listed Torre Industries Limited, manufactures and distributes quality branded products to the automotive aftermarket in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company, established in 1948, and formerly known as Control Instruments Automotive, has a significant basket of products. Brand names owned and/or exclusively distributed by Torre Automotive include Gabriel, Echlin, Textar, VDO, Autocom, Acsa-Mag, Mag Brakes, Warn, Hi-Lift, Vision X and Truck-Lite.

Torre Automotive has manufacturing facilities in Retreat, Western Cape, employs some 450 people dedicated to its sales, marketing, warehousing,
distribution and manufacturing operations, serving a network of wholesale distributors, in
South Africa and the rest of Africa.

History

Gabriel has a proud history of innovation and achievement stretching back to 1907 when

Claude Foster – the automotive parts pioneer who founded Gabriel in Cleveland, Ohio,

USA – developed and patented the first shock absorber called the “Snubber”.

The company continued to prosper in the suspension business, pioneering many more

firsts – the first hydraulic shocks (1918), adjustable shocks (1956 and 1967), position

and velocity sensitive shocks (1979), gas-charged twin tube shocks (1983) and velocity

sensitive technology for shocks and struts (1996).

Gabriel first came to South Africa in 1935, importing all products from the US. Production

in South Africa started in 1962 and some time later, in 1984, Gabriel South Africa made

its own contribution to Gabriel’s innovative history with the design and manufacturer of the

“gas springs” which were promptly adopted by Gabriel plants worldwide.

Who we are

Today Gabriel South Africa employs nearly 300 staff members at its manufacturing plant in Retreat, Cape Town, producing shock absorbers, MacPherson struts, strut cartridges (pressurised and non-pressurised designs), and gas springs (Gabriel Gas Lift).

Our state-of-the-art manufacturing plant houses its own research and engineering facilities. Prototypes are assembled, tested and re-tested here by qualified engineers under laboratory as well as actual operating conditions.

Our products are distributed nationally to spares shops and workshops through our wholesale network; we also export some of these products internationally. We have trained representatives, based in in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and

Kwa-Zulu Natal, which service some 1600 retail outlets.

These nationwide retail outlets proudly display the Gabriel name which has become synonymous with the highest

standard of quality.