This year, world-renowned manufacturer of high-performance exhaust systems, Akrapovič, is celebrating 30 years in the business.
Igor Akrapovič
The beginnings of the manufacturer go back to even before its formal incorporation in the spring of 1991, when operations started in a workshop just over a kilometer away from its current headquarters at Ivančna Gorica, Slovenia.
It was founded by Igor Akrapovič, who was a motorcycle racer at the time. He was already tuning motorcycles to make them faster. At first, he worked on his own machines, but later he also started tuning other motorcycles, even the motorcycles of his rivals.
It was this passion for technology and constant improvement of motorcycle components that made him decide to start his own business and dedicate his future to developing high-performance exhaust systems. Exhaust systems were where Igor Akrapovič saw his greatest opportunity because, at that time, there was little competition on the market.
He initially focused on racing motorcycle exhaust systems, building a rich tradition of state-of-the-art products, from which he soon expanded into the mainstream motorcycle market, as well as the car market later on.
Three decades after its inception, the company is operating at two state-of-the-art production sites in Slovenia, with over 1,300 employees. The facilities at the company's headquarters in Ivančna Gorica comprise of an in-house titanium foundry, a durability dyno on which a robot rides the motorcycle, a metallurgical lab, an R&D department, and a racing department. The entire production, from tube making to final assembly, takes place in a large production hall at Črnomelj.
The company continued to develop, and the increasing demand for its products forced it to expand its premises, which it continually furnished with state-of-the-art equipment required to develop and manufacture its products.
Throughout, a special culture has been built inside the company rooted in the employees' desire to offer customers exhaust systems and other products of the highest quality.
