Dekra

DEKRA is a Stuttgart-based TIC group that started in 1925 as a vehicle inspection association. It is now the largest TIC organisation in the world that is not listed on a stock exchange, with EUR 4.4 billion of revenue and about 48,000 employees in around 60 countries. Its economic engine is still mobility: roughly 34 million vehicle inspections a year make it the global leader in periodic vehicle inspection, and the Vehicles division brings in about half of group revenue. Around that core, DEKRA has built product testing and certification (electrical safety, EMC, wireless, cybersecurity, functional safety, AI), industrial asset inspection, management-system audits, training and a large German temporary-staffing business. Being owned by an association means there is no equity market discipline and no dividend pressure, so the group can reinvest around EUR 150 million a year. The trade-off is that its margins are structurally lower than listed peers'. Its IMPACT 2030+ strategy targets top-five positions in Mobility, Digital Trust and Sustainability, and the semiconductor and SoC security work is one of the newer growth bets under Digital Trust.

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What DEKRA does

DEKRA sells independent third-party assurance. It inspects, tests, certifies, audits and trains so that vehicles, products, industrial assets, organisations and people meet legal, regulatory and customer-defined requirements for safety, security and sustainability. The group's long-standing brand promise is safety "on the road, at work and at home". In its anniversary year it adopted the motto "Securing the Future".

The company's own description in its 2024/2025 reporting presents DEKRA as a global partner whose services and solutions advance safety and sustainability. These range from vehicle inspection and expert appraisal, through claims services, industrial and building inspection, audits, training and personnel services, to the testing and certification of analogue and digital products and systems. DEKRA says it offers more than 500 services that support the transition to a sustainable economy, about one-third of its service portfolio.

Business model and revenue model

DEKRA's revenue is almost entirely service revenue. It sells no products in volume and earns no meaningful licensing or subscription income. In 2024 the group sold DEKRA Visatec, a maker of camera and visual-inspection systems, explicitly to exit product development and production and concentrate on testing and inspection services. The revenue model has four components:

Mandated / regulated inspection fees: Description: Periodic vehicle inspections (in Germany the HU/AU inspections), emissions tests and statutory inspections of industrial installations such as lifts, pressure equipment and electrical systems. Volumes are driven by regulation and the installed base; prices are often regulated or fee-scheduled; Approximate weight: Largest single component; the Vehicles division, which also includes appraisals and claims, generated EUR 2,137.9 million in FY2024 (49.8% of revenue)

Project and transaction-based testing and certification: Description: Type testing, product certification (DEKRA Mark, CB scheme, NRTL), EMC/RF, cybersecurity (Common Criteria, SESIP, PSA, UN R155/R156, IEC 62443), functional safety, AI conformity assessment; Approximate weight: Digital Products division: EUR 386.4 million in FY2024 (9.0%)

Recurring audit, certification and advisory contracts: Description: ISO management-system certification (9001, 14001, 45001 and others), supplier audits, HSE and process-safety consulting, training and qualification; Approximate weight: People, Processes & Organizations division: EUR 615.0 million in FY2024 (14.3%)

Personnel services: Description: Temporary staffing (Temp Work), concentrated in Germany; Approximate weight: EUR 479.1 million in FY2024 (11.2%), shrinking

Industrial asset inspection, asset integrity management, construction monitoring and fire protection form the fourth service division, Industrial Assets: EUR 621.2 million in FY2024 (14.5%).

Value-chain position

DEKRA sits at the conformity-assessment layer of every value chain it serves. It is not a supplier of materials, equipment or production capacity. In the semiconductor ecosystem specifically, it works at three points:

1. Chip and SoC level. It evaluates the security of silicon and firmware against SESIP, PSA Certified, Common Criteria and FIPS 140-3, using side-channel analysis (SCA) and electromagnetic fault injection (EMFI) equipment from eShard. In October 2024 DEKRA certified NXP's KW45, K32W148 and MCX W71 wireless MCUs to SESIP Level 2 and PSA Certified Level 2. It described this as the first certification in the semiconductor industry showing conformity with the cybersecurity requirements of the EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED).

2. Component and module level. It provides IECQ certification-body services (DEKRA Certification B.V.), electrical safety and EMC testing, and wireless certification for modules and end products.

3. Manufacturer and fab level. It provides ISO 9001 and other management-system certification for semiconductor companies (for example the Shanghai branch of WeEn Semiconductors, certified by DEKRA Certification GmbH), plus HSE, process-safety and explosion-protection consulting.

Customer types and end-markets

Private motorists and fleet owners: Examples of services: Periodic inspection, emissions test, used-car and EV battery assessment; End-markets: Mobility

Insurers, leasing companies, OEMs, dealers: Examples of services: Claims appraisal, damage assessment, remarketing reports, data analytics (Spearhead AG); End-markets: Mobility, insurance

Automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers: Examples of services: Homologation support, ADAS/AD testing, V2X, vehicle cybersecurity (UN R155/R156), RF approvals; End-markets: Automotive

Electronics, semiconductor and IoT manufacturers: Examples of services: Product safety, EMC, wireless, SoC security, CRA/RED compliance; End-markets: Consumer electronics, semiconductors, IoT, ICT

Industrial operators and utilities: Examples of services: Statutory plant inspection, NDT, asset integrity, fire protection; End-markets: Energy, chemicals, construction, infrastructure

Corporates of all sizes: Examples of services: ISO certification, supplier audits, sustainability verification, training; End-markets: Cross-industry

Online marketplaces: Examples of services: Pre-listing product compliance testing (Temu partnership, February 2026); End-markets: E-commerce

Governments and regulators: Examples of services: Delegated statutory tasks, notified-body functions, AI Act conformity assessment; End-markets: Public sector

Independent characterisation

DEKRA is best understood as a German regulated-inspection utility with an internationalising, technology-led testing business bolted on. The GSA region (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) still generates 61% of revenue. The vehicle inspection franchise provides stable, annuity-like cash flow, but it is exposed to fee regulation, the size of the vehicle fleet and (in the long run) changes in mobility. The growth story rests on Digital Trust (cybersecurity, functional safety, AI certification, now including semiconductors), EV and battery services, and selective expansion of vehicle inspection outside Germany (Spain, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Finland). Low margins compared with listed peers (6.2% adjusted EBIT against roughly 16% at SGS and Bureau Veritas) reflect the labour-intensive service mix, the low-margin temporary-staffing business, and an ownership model that puts reinvestment and employment ahead of margin maximisation.

Strategic framework

Strategy 2025 (2022–2025). The strategy was built around the megatrends of Future Mobility, Cyber Security, Sustainability, and AI & Advanced Analytics, with Remote Services as a fifth focus area at launch. Its stated ambitions were to remain the undisputed global leader in automotive testing, to become the world's leading provider of cybersecurity and sustainability testing and certification, to triple Future Mobility revenue by 2025 compared with 2022 (around +200%), to raise the share of revenue from sustainability services to 40% by 2025, and to reach an average EBIT margin of 8–9%. Management described Strategy 2025 as largely completed in 2025. The growth goals in mobility and Digital Trust were largely met; the margin goal was not (adjusted EBIT margin 6.2%).

IMPACT 2030+ (developed in 2025, in implementation from 2026). The guiding themes are:

• the motto "Securing the Future";

• three strategic business fields: Mobility, Digital Trust and Sustainability;

• the ambition to hold a top-five global position in all of its markets by 2030 and achieve substantial growth in the TIC core business;

• revenue of about EUR 6 billion by 2030, driven by organic growth in core markets and targeted investment in future fields;

• the investment principle of focusing on impact rather than scope, with about EUR 150 million invested each year;

• portfolio focus on Europe, Asia and North America.

Strategic initiatives in the last 24 months

DEKRA Digital Trust Service: Date: 2025 launch; Description: Integrated cybersecurity, functional safety and AI testing and certification for multi-market product approvals; Targets / status: Named a key growth driver for 2025–2026

Semiconductor and SoC cybersecurity lab: Date: November 2025; Description: Dedicated Málaga lab with eShard SCA/EMFI workstations; Targets / status: Laser fault injection and decapsulation planned

EU AI Act conformity assessment: Date: March 2026; Description: First accredited certification body for AI biometric systems under the EU AI Act; Targets / status: Positioned for the high-risk AI obligations that apply from August 2026

North American automotive hub: Date: 2023–2025; Description: Weiss Technik labs, USD 22.8 million Automotive Test Center of Excellence, WAC acquisition; Targets / status: Michigan as DEKRA's automotive base in the US

Vehicle inspection internationalisation: Date: 2025–2026; Description: Expansion in Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Finland and Spain; Targets / status: Spain: more than EUR 19 million invested in 2025–2026; target of more than EUR 140 million revenue by 2030 (+40% vs. 2026) at a margin above 15%; station network to triple by 2030

Portfolio pruning: Date: 2024–2026; Description: Exits from Visatec, South African vehicle inspection and NDT, Brazilian vehicle surveys, mainland-China consulting and rail; Targets / status: Resulted in impairments and disposal losses in FY2025

Korean consumer-electronics testing: Date: April 2026; Description: Global Product Service acquisition; Targets / status: Integration into DEKRA Korea

Marketplace compliance channel: Date: February 2026; Description: Temu partnership, with DEKRA testing integrated into the Seller Center; Targets / status: New B2B2C distribution channel for product testing

DEKRA Climate Impact (DCI): Date: 2025; Description: Corporate climate responsibility programme with UNICEF, WWF and NABU, replacing compensation-based neutrality claims; Targets / status: Part of Sustainability Impact 2030+

Digitalisation of the service portfolio: Date: Ongoing since 2023; Description: CDO-led programme to digitalise services and internal IT; Targets / status: The 2025 software and IT impairments show that parts of the legacy IT estate are being reset

Management guidance

FY2026 revenue: Guidance: Mid-single-digit growth, mainly organic, plus selective acquisitions

FY2026 unadjusted EBIT: Guidance: Significant increase, as 2025 one-off items do not recur

FY2026 headcount: Guidance: Slight increase by year-end

Annual investment: Guidance: About EUR 150 million a year

2030 revenue ambition: Guidance: About EUR 6 billion

Margin ambition: Guidance: 8–9% EBIT margin in the second half of the decade (as stated in 2024)

Getting from EUR 4.44 billion in FY2025 to EUR 6 billion by 2030 requires roughly 6.2% compound annual growth, well above the 3.4% delivered in FY2025. It implies a step-up in M&A, or a sharp acceleration of Digital Trust and international vehicle inspection.

Vehicles

Digital Products (including Digital Trust and semiconductors)

Industrial Assets

People, Processes & Organizations

Temp Work

Pricing. Statutory vehicle inspection fees are regulated or schedule-based in many jurisdictions. Testing, certification and audit services are priced per project, per test or per audit-day. DEKRA does not publish price lists for its certification services.