Blaupunkt, a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch Corporation, had its beginnings as far back as the 1920’s, which was when it bore a different name, "Ideal". In 1923, when radio was first introduced in Germany, the company called "Ideal" was formed in Berlin. This company started by manufacturing headphones that were carefully tested by technicians and then marked with a symbol of quality – the blue dot. Before long customers began to ask for earphones marked with the blue dot – which in German is "Blaupunkt". This symbol of quality became the benchmark for the company in 1938 and that is when the name changed from "Ideal" to "Blaupunkt".

In 1932, "Ideal" laid the foundation for the development of the in-car audio systems of our day with the first European car radio, the Blaupunkt AS-5. Blaupunkt not only manufactured headphones, but the company was also the first to introduce the VHF (very high frequency) radio in 1952, the first radio with integrated CD player in 1983 and by 1999, Blaupunkt reached a milestone of one hundred million radios sold.

Today, Blaupunkt employs 2,800 people in Hildesheim, Germany and worldwide, Blaupunkt employs around 7,500 staff. The company also produces more than 5 million car radios and 500,000 navigation systems every year.

North American operations are divided into two areas – aftermarket and original equipment. Aftermarket sales and distribution are based out of Broadview, Illinois and the OE division is based out of Farmington Hills, Michigan.

• 1923: Founding of the company in Berlin
• 1924: Registration of the trade mark ‘Blaupunkt’
• 1932: First Car Radio in Europe
• 1952: First VHF car radio in the world
• 1959: One million Blaupunkt car radios sold
• 1969: The first stereo car radio in the world
• 1971: 10 million Blaupunkt car radios sold
• 1974: First car radio with ARI
• 1979: 25 million Blaupunkt car radios sold
• 1980: First stereo-cassette-radio combination
• 1982: Prototype of the first route guidance system EVA
• 1988: The first RDS car radio
• 1989: First European navigation system
• 1990: 50 million Blaupunkt radios sold
• 1995: First Blaupunkt DAB receiver
• 1996: Dynamic navigation system for the Japanese market
• 1997: The Radiophone: the first car radio/ mobile phone combined unit
• 1999: Production of the 100 millionth Blaupunkt car radio
• 2001: 1 million navigation systems sold! Plus presentation of the first DAB car radios MP3
• 2002: First online-linked navigation system
• 2003: DAB-/ MP3-car radio with ‘Digital Recorder’