Austrian Independents

A1, Avanti, Doppler (Turmöl) and Genol

Background

Austria has a number of small independent petrol and oil distributors. Some are unbranded or associated with the Landwirt Genossenschaften (agricultural co-ops), and one of the largest - Doppler - mainly distributes BP (formerly Esso) products, but others are well branded.

A1

A1 map of Austria

A1-Tankstellenbetrieb GmbH only started around the early 1990s and at the time that this map was printed for them (1997) still only had 6 outlets. Its name was almost certainly "borrowed" from that of the A1-Ring, Austria's circuit for Formula 1 racing. It grew to a peak of 24 outlets, but closed its remaining filling stations during 2006, only to re-enter the market 2 years later; it now supplies 51 locations.

The map itself is a standard design from Ed. Hölzel of Vienna (Wien) on one side at 1:800,000, with town plans of the provincial capitals on the reverse. A1 has the distinction of being the one of the smallest chains to have a specially printed road map in Europe.

AVANTI

Avanti was probably Europe's most aggressive smaller independent. Opening its first filling station in 1972, it expanded into newly liberalised markets including Spain, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania, with almost 200 sites outside Austria, as well as a small chain in Southern Germany. However it only had around 150 service stations in its home market, after taking over supply to 70 former Shell sites in late 1997 and this rapid growth did not lead to financial security. During 2001 there were suggestions that it would have to be rescued by the Russian company Lukoil, even though it was still expanding, for example by buying the small Acord chain in Slovakia in late 2001. Eventually its financial crisis caught up with the company, and in the end it was largely acquired by OMV in April 2003; the name is still used by OMV at over 100 locations.

1998 Avanti map of Austria

The map shown left is dated 10/98 and marks Avanti locations with a yellow dot as well as giving their addresses. Drawn by Freytag-Berndt u. Artaria, it is also at 1:800,000 with the same city plans on the reverse as the A1 map.
By 2001 Avanti had moved to selling an excellent value Freytag-Berndt spiral bound atlas covering all of Austria at the generous scale of 1:200,000, and including 48 pages of town plans. The underlying maps were often sold on 7 sheets costing little less for each sheet than the entire atlas. Avanti stations were not shown on the maps, but listed on the inside front cover.

2001 Avanti atlas of Austria

Doppler (Turmöl)

Doppler was established in the 1920s and has become Austria's largest independent distributor of petroleum products, with most of its stations selling major brands. The majority were in Esso colours until 2001, but then passed to BP. In 2003 it acquired the troubled Turmöl and expanded that name at smaller stations, as well as some formerly owned by BP itself. By 2007 its 196 filling stations were split 132 BP to 9 Shell, with 55 under Turmöl and a handful under the Arriva brand used mainly at hypermarkets. There are no Doppler-branded locations.
Its 2007 mid-format atlas lists stations under all 4 names and marks them on the map with a small blue disc. Freytag-Berndt provided the cartography at 1:500,000, but the atlas is unusual in that it includes a street plan of Wels (Doppler's home town) as well as the provincial capitals.

2007 Doppler atlas of Austria

GENOL

late 1990s Genol map of Austria

Genol is jointly owned by RWA-Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG and OMV, the Austrian national oil company. RWA brings together 55 agricultural co-operatives in Styria, Upper & Lower Austria and has links with BayWa, its Bavarian equivalent that is also involved in petrol retailing.
Genol has existed for several decades and essentially operates in the same three provinces of Austria plus Burgenland. It supplies over 150 filling stations and is active in alternative fuels such as RME (rapemethylester) and bio-lubricants, working in support of its agricultural members.
The map shown dates from around 1996 and uses the common scale of 1:600,000. Although the cartography by Ed. Holzel has been updated by computer, it is essentially the same map as was used by BP as far back as the 1950s.

No maps are known from other Austrian independents such as OIL!, AWI, IQ, Stroh (which was also acquired by OMV) or Disk (used by Rühl and more recently Gutmann), but it's not impossible that some may have been produced over the past two decades.

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