We have just left 2018 behind, the year in which Castrosua celebrated seven decades since its founding. For this reason, we could not end this year without first looking back at our history. As a family business, we will see the importance that people, their work, and their commitment have always had; but also innovation and the concern for being at the forefront in terms of production, quality, and technology.
We could place the prologue of this story in 1926, in the Ourense town of O Carballiño, with a child born to a carpenter who grew up working with wood. His name is José Castro Suárez. Thus begins an exciting career, full of challenges and achievements, which extends to the present day, with the Castrosua Group already consolidated as a benchmark company in the sector.
From O Carballiño to Vilagarcía
70 years separate us from that 1948 when Castrosua began its journey. Upon his return from military service, D. José Castro Suárez began his activity as a coachbuilder that year, in a small workshop in O Carballiño. His early training as an apprentice coachbuilder made him extraordinarily skilled in all phases of this profession: carpentry, sheet metal, painting, structure, and finishing.
In those years, he dedicated himself to car repair and wooden coachbuilding, which was common at the time. The quality of his first orders was soon recognized; they nicknamed him “Pepe the coachbuilder” for his success as a coachwork artisan.
The 200-square-meter workshop in O Carballiño disappeared two years later in a fire. This event, far from diminishing D. José’s spirit of dedication and commitment, spurred him forward. He decided to move his workshop to a larger one in Vilagarcía de Arousa, where the company acquired a new dimension: orders, human resources, and infrastructure grew.
The alliance with Pegaso
The first order from Pegaso marked a milestone in D. José’s career and in the history of Castrosua. Following the success of this collaboration, we became their preferred coachbuilder.
In 1963, we settled in Santiago de Compostela, in a 5,000-square-meter facility, where we would build Pegaso’s large orders. The alliance between the two companies multiplied Castrosua’s prestige.
During these years, D. José consolidated the spirit that defined his entire career: he personally oversaw the training of new professionals, always focusing on what would become a fundamental value for the company to this day: innovation.
We are in a period of great development and specialization in the sector in our country, with Castrosua at the forefront in terms of materials and designs. In this context, the quality of D. José’s coachwork stood out, earning him national recognition. Demand became overwhelming.
Creation and departure from UNICAR
In the 1970s, Unión Carrocera (UNICAR) was founded, the result of several mergers and acquisitions between Castrosua and other coachbuilders. This project gave us new scale, with five production plants and a capacity of 900 units per year: Santiago de Compostela, Vilagarcía, Ourense, Chavín, and Manresa.
Later, D. José decided to leave Unicar and acquired the Santiago plant from his partners, establishing the new Castrosua there. In this new phase, he was joined by his sons Carlos, as an economist, and José Manuel, as an engineer. D. José thus regained the family character of the company, which would continue to be one of our most important identifying features.
Specialization in the urban sector and takeoff
The 1980s marked Castrosua’s consolidation as one of the leading producers of urban and interurban buses. During this period, new technologies were incorporated, and low-floor platforms were developed, which would be the great technical advancement in the sector nationally. The firm’s expansion was imminent.
D. José saw a market opportunity in the Canary Islands: the resistance of our coachwork would be the perfect solution for corrosion caused by humidity and saltpeter. With this idea, in 1985, he opened Insular Carrocera, located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
In the 1990s, business expansion continued with the opening of Cidsa (Castro Innovación y Desarrollo) in Santiago, dedicated to technology development, and the purchase of Carsa (Castro Carrocera) in Villagarcía.
A new generation at the helm
Leaving the 20th century behind, Juan Luis Castro, D. José’s son, joined Grupo Castrosua, first as CEO and then as president of the company.
The third generation of the family also became part of the business project through Beatriz Castro, granddaughter of José Castro, current Vice President of the Board and CEO of the Group. They took the baton from D. José and continued his work, betting on tradition and innovation, just as he had done from the beginning.
In this new phase, in addition to exceeding 550 employees and 90,000 square meters of facilities, several milestones related to sustainability, one of our most priority lines of action, have occurred.
70 years in your service of trust
2018 has been an emotional year for all of us. We are very proud of who we are and the journey we have taken since that day in 1948 when D. José founded Castrosua.
Seven decades have passed, but we still have great challenges ahead and many journeys to share.
Will you join us?
