RIV

The 1965 merger of SKF with the major Italian bearing company RIV (Turin) was a defining event in SKF’s post‑war history. By the time of the merger, RIV and SKF’s Gothenburg plant operated on a similar scale, and both companies had been founded around the same period.

RIV was run by the Agnelli family, owners of Fiat, which was RIV’s key customer and accounted for roughly half of its sales. Dominant in Italy, RIV had subsidiaries in leading industrial nations and competed with SKF internationally, exporting primarily to regions where Fiat established manufacturing.

It is no surprise that as early as 1932 SKF and RIV signed an agreement on cooperation and market sharing—a foundation for the long‑term partnership that culminated in the historic 1965 merger.