History

Viking’s long journey as preferred partner to the automotive industry since the mid 50s.

The car workshop organization in Norway, AVL (Automobilverkstedenes Landsforbund), realized the threat represented by Falken to parts of their activity, and established Viking Redningstjeneste AS on June 7th, 1956, as the outcome of a long term project to create a genuine roadside assistance company. The idea was born in 1935, but buried for a while due to the limited car park of 60 000 vehicles in Norway. Despite a challenging start where Viking struggled to find the right business model while facing strong competition, Viking succeeded in finally establishing its unique position as the preferred partner to the automotive industry, offering the highest service levels and finally turning profitable in 1962. Since then, the relation between Viking and the automotive industry has been very tight, and Viking expanded into Sweden.

Viking continued its mission to provide customer with the highest standard of service, in addition to focus on technical innovation to always be ahead of customer needs, continuously building a sustainable business. In 1981, Viking signed its first contract with an insurance company, Norges Brannkasse, and quickly became an important partner to the insurance industry.

“The helmet logo was introduced in 1967, a logo that still is in use”

The car industry handed over Viking to private equity investors after 50 years of existence, and with the support of its news owners, Viking managed a successful come back into the Swedish market in 2010 after a few years of absence, and started operations in Denmark in March 2015 and during 2017 Viking Finland. In July 2017 Viking established a call center in Spain, Viking Nordic Assistance S.L with operation office in Torrevieja, Alicante.

Viking has offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Finland and Spain and we serve our customers through an extensive nationwide network of fully-owned stations and suppliers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. In all countries, Viking operates in the same manner and uses the same Information System, offering a real Nordic solution to its clients.