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Geico

Type	joint-stock company
Founded	1963
Headquarters	Cinisello Balsamo, Via Cornaggia 58,20093 Italy
Industry	Painting Automotive
Website	www.Geico-spa.com

Geico is a joint-stock company, born in Cinisello Balsamo - next to Milan- which has always played a leading role in supplying automotive manufacturers with complete automated paint plants for automobiles, commercial vehicles, agricultural and earth moving machines, and light vehicles. Geico operates on the international market and has realized paint plants all over the world for the most important automotive manufacturers such as Fiat-Iveco and Renault in Brasil, Audi at Ingolstadt - Germany, Sevel Sud in Italy and recently General Motors in India.

[edit] History

Geico was established in 1963 under the name of Neri & Mandelli SpA. In 1965, 70% of the firm was bought by the Drysys group and the name changed to Drysys Equipment Italiana spa. In 1976, the Neri family bought 51% of the Company’s shares, turning the corporate name into Geico SpA. In the following years, Geico became the absolute leader on the Italian market in the field of automotive paint plants, and joined the narrow élite of tier-one suppliers for the leading car manufacturers at international level. In 1997 Geico joined the Comau Group, one of the most important companies of the Fiat Group. Since 2005, Geico decided to become an autonomous and independent company again and thus separated from the Comau Group. The most recent operation dates back to July 2006 when Geico becomes the exclusive owner of the patents and trademarks of Haden Drysys, the painting leader worldwide for nearly a century.

[edit] Mascot

Geico's mascot, a lizard, is a gecko. A gecko is basiclly a small lizard belonging to the Gekkonidae family of lizards. Geckos have a very good hearing and a short tail. Sometimes their tail falls off after being engaged in a confrontation with another lizard or larger animal.