Corteco is the aftermarket brand of the Freudenberg Group, meaning it's a brand name that Freudenberg uses to sell their products in the automotive aftermarket. To understand where the Corteco name comes from, let's talk about some Freudenberg history for a moment. Fruedenberg is a company with 170 years of history. Originally founded in 1849 as a leather tannery, it wasn't until 1932 when Freudenburg entered the seal business.
In 1957, Freudenburg first got involved in vibration control technology by engineering and manufacturing shock absorbers and bushings under the name Matalastik. In the same year, Freudenburg entered a partnership with Italian seal manufacturer Corte & Cosso. This partnership is where the Corteco name came from. In fact, the name Corteco in Italian is the term used for sealing ring or rotating shaft.
Since 1996 Corteco was re-established as the sales arm of the Freudenburg group and remains one of the leading suppliers of components for the Independent Automotive Aftermarket. As a member of the global Freudenberg Group, they supply over 26,000 products in OEM quality from manufacturing plants and distribution centers in over 17 different countries around the world.