The ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest automobile association. The ADAC is the largest Verein (club) in Germany, with around 21 million members. Its headquarters are located in Munich. Its original and most well-known service is roadside assistance. The objective of the ADAC is "the representation, promotion, and advocacy of motoring, motorsport, and tourism interests."ADAC Articles of Association (PDF; 193.16 kB). In: Impressum (Legal notice)| ADAC e.V. Retrieved July 21, 2020/scroll down for English version of the Articles of Association.
The ADAC also owns insurance and publishing subsidiaries. More than 25 subsidiaries operate under ADAC SE (former ADAC Beteiligungs- und Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH), which assumes the holding function. ADAC Luftrettung () operates the largest fleet of ambulance helicopters in Germany.
The ADAC had total revenues of €911 million and an annual profit of €25 million in 2012. The subsidiaries grouped together in ADAC Beteiligungs- und Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH generated total revenues of €1.03 billion in 2012, with a profit of €84.9 million.
History A German Motorcyclist Association, the Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung, was founded on 24 May 1903 at the then-Hotel Silber in Stuttgart. A club for automobiles already existed, the Deutscher Automobilclub (DAC) founded in 1899. Recognized by the Kaiser, it became KAC in 1905, but is known since 1918 as Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD). It organizes the German Grand Prix.
With motorcycles being cheaper than automobiles, that often were driven by a chauffeur rather than by the owner, there were more motorcyclists than automobile enthusiasts, and the DMV soon had more members than the KAC. In 1911, due to an enormous growth in the membership of car owners, the DMV was renamed the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC). As the KAC and other organisations did, the Prussian eagle was selected as the emblem on the club's badge in appreciation of the Prussian royal family's support and patronage. Its most senior figure at the time was the German Emperor and King of Prussia, Wilhelm II.
The ADAC breakdown roadside assistance service was launched in Germany in 1927 under the name of ADAC-Straßen-Hilfsdienst.
After 1933, during Gleichschaltung, the Nazi Party amalgamated all motoring organisations in Germany into the DDAC (Der Deutsche Automobil-Club e.V.), an umbrella association that was allowed to exist in the shadow of the NSKK (National Socialist Motor Corps). A DDAC appeal described the 1934 international Automobile Exhibition as a "show for the people" rather than an "exhibition for the more affluent bourgeois segment" of society. "Motoring for the people" (Volkskraftfahrt), it proclaimed, was more "in the spirit of the Führer".Till Bastian: Das Jahrhundert des Todes (The century of death). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, , p. 101 (online)
After business activities resumed in 1946, roadside assistance was revived in 1954 under the name ADAC-Straßenwacht ("road patrol"). In 1954, Heinz Frölich became the first of 56 ADAC patrolmen equipped with a motorcycle and sidecar, the latter of which had a large compartment filled with tools and parts for roadside repairs. These original "Gelber Engel" ("Yellow Angels") used NSU Konsul motorcycles. At the end of 1962, ADAC announced the retirement of their motorbike-sidecar combinations, which would be replaced by 40 appropriately equipped Volkswagen Beetles. Equipment on the new cars included a flashing roof light, repair tools, a radio communication device, compressed air canisters, a spade and broom set, and a basic "doctor kit" incorporating blood plasma.
In 1974, the organisation had 3.8 million members at a time when there were 19.0 million passenger cars registered in Germany. By 1990, membership had risen to 10.2 million, with 35.5 million passenger cars registered in the country, so ADAC membership grew more than twice as fast as national car ownership. Growth rates during the ensuing twenty years were greatly boosted by German reunification.
In May 2012, the organisation welcomed its 18 millionth member, and in May 2013, the ADAC fitted out its 10,000th roadside assistance vehicle, a Volkswagen Touran, with several hundred different tools and replacement parts.
In 1997, ADAC opened its new technical centre in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria.
In 2003, ADAC celebrated its 100th anniversary. In the same year, it criticized the supervised driving at age 17 pilot program in Lower Saxony.
In 2007, the ADAC Stiftung "Gelber Engel" foundation was established. This foundation financially supports survivors of road accidents and funds accident rescue and accident research initiatives and institutions. The ADAC Stiftung "Gelber Engel" ("ADAC 'Yellow Angel' Foundation") has supported victims of road accidents since 2007. In September 2013, that foundation was registered as a gGmbH (a non-profit company).
At the end of 2019, ADAC had 21.2 million members.
Critics
More corporate group than association The automobile club operates over 25 subsidiaries, several of which have a non-German legal form. Like its commercial competitors, the ADAC offers travel, emergency services, insurance, and much more for everyone; it operates as an entrepreneur in the market. The ADAC describes itself on its website as a "leading mobility service provider."
In 2012, the Munich District Court investigated the ADAC's status as an association. In a German registered association (Verein), members exercise their participation and control rights primarily through participation in the general meeting (Mitgliederversammlung). This is also the case with the ADAC. In a stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) or cooperative (Genossenschaft), however, members elect not only the board of directors but also, obligatorily, a permanent supervisory body. The ADAC's internal controls were considered inadequate by lawyer and author Dirk-Ulrich Otto.
The Munich District Court has confirmed in 2017 the ADAC's association status. The court announced reject deletion from the association register and justified its decision by stating that it could not establish that the association was operating commercially. The ADAC has since outsourced its commercial activities to a stock corporation ADAC SE whose board of directors is independent of instructions.
Manipulation of the tire tests The ADAC published a tire test that, years later, turned out to be fake. The test results were not as they were later presented. An ADAC insider revealed this in 2014. He said that the ADAC provided information to its sympathetic manufacturers about which tire models it wanted to test, where it wanted to test these tires, and under what conditions.
Manipulation of the "Yellow Angel" car award In 2014, it was revealed that the ADAC (German Automobile Club) had systematically manipulated its Yellow Angel "Audience Award" for several years.
The vote for "Germany's Favorite Car" was sold to the public through a vote among ADAC members. Instead, this category was an arbitrary award within the ADAC. An analysis of the figures revealed that the alleged "Audience Award" had been awarded at its discretion since at least 2009. The rankings have been manipulated almost every year since 2009. Even earlier elections may not have been clean, but the auditing firm Deloitte lacked the data for this. Preference was given to models that had only just been launched in the spring.
Most car manufactures, including BMW, VW, and Daimler, returned their prizes as "worthless."
Mixing automotive journalism and advertising Even after major scandals, the ADAC continued to mix reporting with advertising in its media. For example, it gave the electric Renault Zoe high marks and, at the same time, helped to market this model in 2017. Members could lease it at very favorable terms; this is the terms of a deal between the automobile club and Renault. The ADAC received "marketing subsidies" from Renault for this.
Operations According to its article of association, the ADAC's responsibilities lie in the "representation, promotion and advocacy of motoring, motorsport [...] interests" and is dedicated to road traffic, road safety, road safety education, tourism, and the protection of road users' rights. The ADAC has been working closely with its Austrian counterpart, Österreichischer Automobil-, Motorrad- und Touring Club (ÖAMTC), and is one of 78 select associations and federations in Germany eligible to file model declaratory actions (Musterfeststellungsklage).
Roadside assistance The primary service provided by ADAC has been roadside assistance. The ADAC road patrol dates back to 1928, when the ADAC-Straßen-Hilfsdienst (ADAC Roadside Assistance Service) was established. Back then, the patrols used sidecar motorcycles. During World War II ADAC was forced to stop operations. In 1951, the ADAC started to organise assistance outside Germany. In 1954 breakdown assistance services were resumed by establishing the ADAC Straßenwacht. In 1990, the road patrol started covering the New Länder.
, the ADAC operated a fleet of more than 1,700 yellow road patrol vehicles, nicknamed "Yellow Angels". In the 1960s and 1970s, the yellow Volkswagen Beetles were a fixture on German roads. In 2007, the ADAC deployed MPVs, each carrying a myriad of tools, small parts, and replacement batteries. , in the case of a car breakdown, members could request assistance over the phone, over the internet, or via a smartphone app. The patrol driver, sent by a dispatcher, then calls the member several minutes before arrival.
ADAC has also provided Europe-wide breakdown assistance for heavy goods vehicles (HGV). In Germany, ADAC has used special breakdown assistance vehicles for HGVs. In other European countries, ADAC partners provide assistance.
In 2021, road patrols and ADAC mobility partners were dispatched in 3.5 million cases. In keeping with the previous years, the breakdowns were usually due to problems with the battery.ADAC website
Air rescue and medical services , the ADAC operated 55 air ambulance helicopters for urgent medical rescues in Germany, strategically placed so that any location can be reached within 15 minutes. Air ambulance jets are used by the ADAC to serve "Plus" members or ADAC international travel insurance customers from any location worldwide in the case of an accident or extreme illness. The ADAC also offers membership to non-German residents, having signed contracts with automobile clubs worldwide. In the UK, it is possible to have breakdown recovery through the local AA while having an ADAC membership.
ADAC Luftrettung ("Air Rescue") gGmbH is the largest civilian rotor-wing air medical organisation in Germany, followed by DRF Luftrettung.
In an extension of its helicopter ambulance operations, the ADAC holds shares in Aero-Dienst, which enables it to operate a small fleet of fixed-wing ambulance aircraft for mid-range medical repatriation.
Other services
, ADAC members could call for assistance when they had locked themselves out of their homes. This was a pilot project running in the urban areas of Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg.
The ADAC ridesharing club (Mitfahrclub) is a platform for ridesharing.
Tourism The ADAC offers a variety of tourism and travel-related information for motorcyclists and drivers of historic vehicles.
In the course of German reunification, ADAC joined forces with the conservancy Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald ("Alliance for the Protection of German Forests") and the German tourism association Deutscher Tourismusverband to have the 2,500 kilometres Deutsche Alleenstraße tree-lined holiday route running the length of Germany designated as such.
Testing and technical services