Maker record
NZG
NZG is a German maker of die-cast scale models, founded in Nuremberg in 1968. Its range began with 1:50 construction machinery and grew to include trucks, passenger cars and models in other scales. The company developed models with industrial partners, including Caterpillar, Porsche and Liebherr, and its models have served both as replicas of vehicles and as manufacturer commissions. NZG later added larger scales, including 1:18 trucks and 1:12 cars. Model development and the company’s headquarters remain in Nuremberg.
- Founded
- 1968
- Locations
- Nuremberg, Germany · 1968
- Founders
- Betty Hauer · Gerhard Schmid
The story of NZG
Betty Hauer and Gerhard Schmid founded NZG-Nürnberger Zinkdruckguss Modelle GmbH in Nuremberg on 1 October 1968. The company initially made 1:50 scale construction machinery models and attended the Nuremberg Toy Fair for the first time in 1969. That year it produced its first Caterpillar model in cooperation with Zeppelin. The work of designing moulds was initially outsourced; in 1972, Schmid and Hauer established Formenbau Schmid-Hauer to bring mould construction in-house.
NZG moved to its own premises on Sigmundstraße in Nuremberg in 1976. It added 1:43 models in cooperation with Porsche in 1983, then expanded its production site and installed a dust-free paint shop in 1985. In 1986, Inge Ludwig and Hannelore Hauer, daughters of the founders, joined the management team. Liebherr commissioned its first NZG model in 1994. That year, the company also tested production in China with a Kaelble construction-machine model. In 2000, it moved production entirely to China, while management, model development, sales and shipping remained in Germany. The range later expanded to larger scales: a 1:18 Mercedes-Benz Actros appeared in 2016, followed by a 1:12 Mercedes-AMG G 63 4x4² in 2021. Mark Ludwig joined the company in 2021, continuing its family management into a third generation.
